Thanksgiving - A Movie Review

This Thanksgiving won’t be the same as the last.

Thanksgiving was served to theaters in 2023. After a Black Friday riot ends in a tragedy, a serial killer terrorizes a small town in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

I love horror movies and I binge them during the spooky season. Once October ended, I needed a break from the horror genre, so I saved Thanksgiving for another viewing time. I am glad I didn’t watch this in November because it may have ruined the meal. Sparking the usual tropes, Thanksgiving merits praise for its original scare material and genuine jump scares.

Eager to work with director Eli Roth, some cast members asked to be in the film. Some credits include Patrick Dempsey, Ty Olsson, Gina Gershon, Karen Cliche, and Nell Verlogue. Thanksgiving is a character film, one of my favorite aspects of any movie. The ensemble sports generic characters to which most end up on the kill count.

Each character gets a chance in the limelight. As I have said, we need to make the best of small roles. Create a fun personality and think of unique ways to deliver lines or react to situations. The diner owner is a great example.

As the leading lady, Gina Gershon is excellent. Like most scream queens, Amanda does the usual running around in terror, but she does not sit around. Gershon is a highlight and I hope that she is cast in more films. Amanda fights back and implements a strategy to beat out the killer. Her character could have used more backstory.

The town of Plymouth plays as an important location and a character. Unable to shoot in Plymouth, filming transpired in Ontario, Canada for five weeks. Each location serves a purpose, like diners, schools, or homes.

Thanksgiving is based on a fake trailer that was advertised in Grindhouse in 2007. Eli Roth took the opportunity to expand this story and implemented creative horror touches.

I have become a big fan of Eli Roth’s horror work. I binged the History of Horror documentaries when they were released.

To anybody who thinks horror movies are losing their touch, watch all the gory kills in Thanksgiving. Roth came up with creative deaths. He wanted all the film’s kills to be creative and pay homage to other horror classics.

Roth instituted impressive direction, incorporating suspenseful scenes. I was on the edge of my chair in the scene where Amanda poses as a fake head as the killer eerily prowls the area. The jump scares are effective.

One aspect of Thanksgiving that disappointed me was the development of certain story elements based on the killer’s motives. While I understand it's a movie, the why writers allowed the killer to evade consequences for their actions felt unrealistic.

Now, it’s time to talk about the film’s graphic kills. The kills in Thanksgiving are so graphic, that I was disgusted and impressed at the same time! Roth went for realism, using practical makeup effects. I prefer practical effects over CGI any day!

I have never shopped on Black Friday and now I never will. The graphic kills in the opening are insane! One person’s hair is scalped, painfully torn off their head! Another character’s intestines spill out after a shocking kill.

My stomach lurched at one nauseating scene. I advise you to avoid watching this film on the titular holiday. It turns you right off from turkey. I cannot imagine what seeing this in theaters would have been like. If you are a horror fan, check out Thanksgiving. It’s an insanely good time!