Thanksgiving (Mini-Review)

Thanksgiving is based off of a fake trailer in Grindhouse (2007). A year ago there was a massacre on Thanksgiving during a Black Friday sale. In the present day Jessica feels guilt for inadvertently causing the massacre. If not for her letting her friends into the store early, all the deaths could have been avoided. But her guilt isn't all she has to worry about. A killer, nicknamed the Carver, is going after all those involved in the massacre. Which happens to include Jessica and her friends. Thanksgiving was released in 2023. It was directed by Eli Roth. It stars Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, and Milo Manheim.

There is a post-credits scene which is a blooper. I would also recommend sitting through the credits as they help add to the atmosphere of the movie.

I haven't seen Grindhouse but I have heard a lot about it. So I didn't know Thanksgiving was one of the fake trailers in the movie. When looking up trivia about this movie, I decided to look up the original trailer on YouTube. After watching the original trailer, I could see some similarities to it in the finished film. Such as a decapitation and cheerleader scene. Though in the finished film the scenes don't play out exactly as in the fake trailer. Eli Roth considered Thanksgiving to be a reboot of the fake trailer. Which did give him a lot more freedom than if he had followed the fake trailer closely.

There were many hints to the killer. Some subtle but should tug your subconscious now and again. With any movie I pay extremely close attention to the beginning. A good movie will leave little hints there so audiences won't be completely lost later on. Small lines. The position of characters in scenes. Looking back at the movie, I'm actually impressed how well and subtly the killer was advertised right from the beginning.

There was one jump scare that caught me off guard. Usually jump scares don't impress me. You can easily spot them and not get spooked. But this one really got me. A few characters are turning a corner when the killer suddenly appears. There wasn't enough time for my brain to register anything before the attack happened.

I don't know why I agree with the killer, but I sort of do. They have a point that if the five friends hadn't gone into the store on a Black Friday sale, the massacre wouldn't have happened. Lives could have been saved if only they hadn't mocked those waiting outside. It is especially stupid that anyone would want to go into a store on Black Friday if they didn't need to. If I saw a gathering mob my first thought wouldn't be to go in. The killer is also right that people were way too greedy for no reason. There is no reason that basic humanity should go away for a sale.

I would highly recommend Thanksgiving to fans of Eli Roth. I would also highly recommend Thanksgiving to fans of horror with a lot of gore.