“Thanksgiving.”
On an afternoon in 2007, I was in an empty movie theatre in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I am pretty sure it was a rainy afternoon. I am not much for the beach, so I would often spend my time in the movie theatre, shopping, dining, etc., anyway (especially during the off season when things were less crowded). I can remember where I was when I saw Tarantino and Rodriguez’s Grindhouse, mainly because of Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving trailer. I mean, who could forget that? The entire runtime of Planet Terror and Death Proof — 3 hours and 11 minutes — were amazing, but the Thanksgiving trailer was what stuck with me. My friend and I were huge horror buffs (we would frequent the conventions together) and saw the film around the same time. We both loved the trailer. We would joke about it every holiday season, and do the voice from the trailer; “Thanksgiving.”
It is clear that Eli Roth understands what makes a great slasher film, and since this is his first true ‘slasher’ film, he has set the bar pretty high.
The original Thanksgiving trailer from 2007 was very entertaining, but didn’t really provide much in the way of plot or story. Although I enjoyed the original trailer, I wasn’t sure that it would ever be made into a full length feature film, or how it would even translate to a feature film.
That is, until 2023…and man, did Eli Roth blow us away. Some of the content in the original trailer is even in the 2023 film, which was cool to see. I really don’t think that I had one bad thing to say about this movie. It is an entertaining, fun and humorous ride from start to finish. I just wish that it was longer, and that there was more of it!
It is clear that Eli Roth understands what makes a great slasher film, and since this is his first true ‘slasher’ film, he has set the bar pretty high. Thanksgiving took me back to being a kid in the 1990’s and watching all of the great slasher flicks of the 80’s and 90’s. It even has the ‘whodunit’ aspect, like one of my personal favorites; Wes Craven’s Scream.
While this film has a lot of creative kills, and a pretty decent kill count, it doesn’t rely heavily on that (or gore) to carry the film. The film is self-aware and maintains the campiness from the original trailer, and has a great cast of characters. Films like this are the reason that I fell in love with horror to begin with. There haven’t been many movies that I would want to rewatch recently, but this one will probably stay in my rotation (at least around the holiday season).
Black Friday, Plymouth, Massachusetts. Chaos unfolds at a local retail store, leaving the community shaken. In the aftermath, a small group of friends finds themselves the target of a serial killer. Will there be any leftovers?
“Thanksgiving.”
