When it comes to the horror genre, there have been only about a dozen Thanksgiving-themed horror movies created, compared to 150 Christmas, Halloween, and St. Patrick’s Day horror movies. So, when I first saw the trailer for Thanksgiving ( “There will be no leftovers”), I was very intrigued.
Director Eli Roth adapted the idea for this movie from his fake trailer that aired 16 years ago, in the movie Grindhouse. Roth is very well known for producing the following movies Hostel, Hostel: Part II, and The Green Inferno.
The movie takes place in the small town of Plymouth, Massachusetts which is the birthplace of the holiday. It consists of a Black Friday gone chaotic which leads to many people being trampled and killed for low-priced items. The following people who were killed in the store were Amanda Collins (Gina Gershon) and a security guard Doug whom Chris Sandiford plays.
The following Thanksgiving, on the anniversary of the tragedy, someone was dressed up with a mask of John Carver and an ax, terrorizing a group of teens and people one by one all over town who were involved in the incident at the RightMart as revenge for the lives lost. John Carver would then create a fake profile and tag the teens in pictures. Some photos consisted of a Thanksgiving dinner with their names on paper, and another was of two people who were a part of the incident in Rightmart.
It stars Gina Gershon who plays Amanda Collins, Ty Olsson as Mitch Collins, Amanda’s husband and a manager at RightMart, Patrick Dempsey as Sheriff Eric Newlon and Rick Hoffman as Thomas Wright who is the store owner of RightMart. Karen Cliche plays Kathleen who is Jessica’s selfish stepmother. Sheriff Eric is the one mainly involved in solving the case of the murders going around in town.
The cast for the teens is great, their acting is so amazing. The cast of teens consists of Nell Verlaque as Jessica, her father is Thomas Wright who is played by Rick Hoffman (Suits). Jenna Warren plays Jessica’s friend, Jalen Thomas Brooks as Bobby, Jessica’s boyfriend, Tomaso Sanelli as Evan who is a jock and one of Jessica’s friends, Gabriel Davenport as Scuba who is Yulia’s boyfriend, and Milo Manheim as Ryan who is Jessica’s current boyfriend.
I was caught off guard by an actor featuring in the film. Addison Rae plays one of the teens named Gabby and is Jessica’s best friend. Even though she’s not the movie’s main star, I enjoyed watching her performance. Her acting was better than usual and you can tell she gave it her all. Although many people have bashed her for trying to become an actor, with many online criticizing her acting skills because she is a TikTok star, I can say that her acting has improved in this film than her previous performance in the movie “He’s All That.”
The movie’s kill scenes are very intense, for example, people are having their guts torn out and their bodies chopped. They are gory and bloody, but I did not find them disturbing because you can tell they aren’t real. Compared to the movie franchise Terrifier, where the kills would make me turn away from the screen immediately because of their realism. That being said, I enjoyed all the kills in the movie Thanksgiving and they do not disappoint.
One thing I did not like about this movie was that there was a certain scene where it seemed choppy (pun intended). Jessica was trying to escape from the killer and somehow the killer got to the destination before she did, even though she was able to outrun the killer by jumping a fence. It felt like the killer had teleported. Despite that specific scene, the movie’s storyline and action was good.
The movie is exciting because of who is behind the mask. It was fun to watch and I can say I was surprised by the reveal. I would compare this film to Scream. The ending of the movie was satisfying. It has you wondering if the killer was killed or if he somehow managed to survive. Jessica is left having nightmares of the day she encountered the Carver and the last scene of the movie opened the door for a sequel.
I am not a huge horror movie fan, but compared to the few horror movies I’ve seen, it was a great addition to the mystery/thriller genre. I enjoyed watching this movie and I would watch it again.
I enjoyed the movie. It kept me on my toes, it had a great storyline, and the actors played well in the slasher genre. It isn’t a masterpiece, but it exceeded my expectations, and it was definitely worth watching. If you are a fan of Eli Roth’s work and slasher movies, I highly recommend this movie.
I rate the movie a 7.8/10. Thanksgiving is streaming on Netflix. You can also rent or buy the movie on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, and YouTube.
