Thanksgiving (2023) review – Eli Roth delivers a blood-soaked holiday treat

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are taking a look at Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving. It follows the story of a small town in Massachusetts finding themselves the victim of a maniacal serial killer after a Black Friday riot leads to disaster. If you are looking for Thanksgiving-themed horror, click the link to check out a list for more.

A Traditional Slasher Approach

The concept for this film originally appeared as a mock trailer in the movie Grindhouse. This caused a bit of an issue. Roth intended for Thanksgiving to follow the blueprint of Golden Age slasher movies like My Bloody Valentine and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The trailer that featured in Grindhouse, however, was utterly ridiculous and would have bound the creator to a rather silly plot.

“Roth decided to strike every element of that trailer away… This allowed him to look at 2023’s Thanksgiving as a full reset on the formula.”

The trailer featured a killer who was once enamoured with a turkey that was butchered for Thanksgiving. This resulted in him murdering his family before being locked up for years in a mental asylum. The villain finally breaks out over the holidays to take vengeance on the town while dressed up in suitable Pilgrim attire.

Roth decided to strike every element of that trailer away. He pretended it was a movie that never made it to mass release due to being too brutal for broadcast. This allowed him to look at 2023’s Thanksgiving as a full reset on the formula.

Gone was the terrible backstory, the gratuitous nudity was removed, the grainy visuals disappeared, and the killer was given an altogether less ridiculous motive. The result is a movie that works pretty damn well.

It’s really enjoyable

Thanksgiving features a very strong, and somewhat chaotic, start set in a department store on Black Friday. A large cast and a very active, dramatic, opening have you wondering just what type of movie this might be. It doesn’t feel very typical of films like this, but that opening belies what is, at its core, a fairly generic slasher with a slight mystery, “whodunnit” element.

“It feels more like an early 2000s slasher than an 80s one, featuring moments that are incredibly reminiscent of films like Scream.”

It works really well for the most part. Kills are inventive, provoking a few groans for how gruesome they look. The large cast offers plenty of opportunities for brutality. Some of the scenes are very well setup with nods to a bunch of horror classics throughout the years. The mystery element is pretty intriguing, and there is enough gore to keep genre fans happy.

Thanksgiving nods heavily to classic slashers with much of the dialogue but, in my opinion, it feels more like an early 2000s slasher than an 80s one, featuring moments that are incredibly reminiscent of films like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer.

The strong focus on a single friend group and their connection to the killings that are taking place feels incredibly familiar. Fans of movies like that will find plenty to like. It’s basic, but it works, and that is the perfect way to summarise Thanksgiving as a whole.

It’s a basic slasher but it works

Thanksgiving is, at its heart, little more than a very basic slasher. This is, kind of, what Eli Roth does, and if you enjoy his other movies you will like this. Kills, though fun, are heavily telegraphed and very predictable. The cast is almost universally unlikable, making them difficult to relate to.

“Thanksgiving is probably the best Thanksgiving horror I have watched… totally watchable, but the disappointing killer reveal leaves you wanting a bit.”

The movie is woefully predictable, and the killer reveal comes as a major disappointment. It’s the kind of reveal that leaves you wondering just how cute Roth was trying to get. It’s just so damn obvious and comes as a big letdown.

Acting is a real mixed bag. This is an incredibly bloated cast and the result is a bunch of performances that feel very weak. Patrick Dempsey stands out, as does Amanda Barker in a very fun role. None of the teens brought much to the fold. All of them struggled to really appreciate the severity of the situation, but they did well when interacting with each other, feeling, at least, somewhat like a real friend group.

Cinematography is fine. There are a few continuity issues here and there, but this feels like a pretty big-budget affair for a horror. Some of the kills will have you scratching your head a bit for how silly they are, but I loved the practical effects. Thanksgiving has a pretty wicked sense of humour at times, and that adds a bit of much-needed levity to the film.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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