Thanksgiving Movie Review

A movie that brings the family to pieces and with a tagline saying "There will be no leftovers." Everyone in that movie got a good feast or became the feast for the occassion. Thanksgiving is a horror myster brought to the screen by no other than Eli Roth. Eli Roth is known for his gory funny movies such as Cabin Fever and Hotel. Our movie begins in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving day. The year is 2022 as RightMart is open on this day in preparation for their Black Friday sale. Being Black Friday the horror is already outside as angry patrons are wanting to get into the store. As the townsfolk are outside with our titular characters sneaking inside the store. The crowd sees them and the act enrages them even more which unleashes the carnage that was going to begin inside the store. A fateful murder brings the town to be bathed in a bloody massacre.

Thanksgiving was interesting from beginning to end. The who dunnit mystery aspect reminded me of Scream. This movie was my first Eli Roth movie and it provided the many things a horror fan will enjoy to the end. I had to keep guessing who would be the killer and what could be their motive. We have quite a list of characters. The characters are Evan, Gabby, Scuba, Yulia, Bobby, Amanda, Mitch, Bobby, Jessica, her father Thomas, her stepmother Kathleen, Lizzie, Manny, Amy, Lonnie, and Newlon. You may be thinking why would I be listing all the characters? My dear reader each character plays a role from the reasoning for the deaths to even figuring out who the killer could be. Each character was written expertly that I was surprised even minor characters mattered throughout the movie.

The most important thing I want to talk about are the effects. The special effects done for the movie are phenomenal. I had moments I wanted to look away from the screen because of how graphic the kills were in the movie. In two parts from the movie a woman dies by a shopping cart and another scene deals with a corn on the cob holder. With that information use your imagination as you please with the corn on the cob holder because it may be that exact scene. With that information I do have to give credit to the special effects team. Joe Badiali, Jason Detheridge, Adrien Morot, and Steven Newburn did a fantastic job in creating such visceral effects for the gore in this movie.

Comparing this movie to other Thanksgiving horror films will not do it justice. It is a new refresh from what has been made for this holiday. Eli Roth has always been the man to bring a concept that has been done before and make it fresh. For example, Green Inferno was heavily inspired by Cannibal Holocaust. The cannibal village trope was reinvented in his image. Which I am glad this movie talked about the horror of Black Friday as usually Thanksgiving movies are sometimes just sticking to the holiday theme. Yes, we know about the killer Turkey movie and the other Thanksgiving movies. Thanksgiving has always been that weird holiday to make movies out of.

This movie is a must see before the year ends. The ratings may look low, but the critics are not a fan of horror a lot of the times. I wish horror movies got better ratings as this movie was a really good time. If you want a classic whodunit gory mess of a story then go see Thanksgiving. It is still currently in movie theaters.