What’s It About
Thanksgiving is an upcoming American slasher film directed by Eli Roth and produced by Roger Birnbaum, from a screenplay written by Roth and Jeff Rendell. It is based on Roth’s mock trailer of the same name from Grindhouse.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Finally, a Thanksgiving slasher I can be proud of. There is usually a slew of horror films around this time because the studios think moviegoers will accept anything during the holidays. Thanksgiving breaks the mediocre mold and gives us something genuinely entertaining. The movie starts with the usual intro of the main characters, followed by the catalyst that gets everything going. The minutes right before a store opens on Black Friday, all hell breaks loose. It’s a scene that eerily mirrors several real-life Black Friday situations. Mainly the ones that took place at Wal-Mart. So, this movie takes a real-life tragedy and makes it worse by blending in elements of every serial killer film’s trope. Keeping with the “every serial killer” theme, one year and another Black Friday sale attempt later, the same chaos now mixed with the usual protesters have all intensified. It’s the perfect setting for our killer. Dressed as a pilgrim from the Mayflower of 1620 and wearing a John Carver mask carrying an axe, a new face of death is born. Who knew that the mask of a guy so random could cause so much horrific terror? The victims are everyone in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Still, the movie focuses on the shoppers from the Black Friday sale that went wrong the previous year at RightMart, an apparent Wal-Mart reference. Fans of classic horror films like Halloween or Scream will simply love Thanksgiving. It’s new with a throwback feel. You have a group of teens trying to figure out who the killer is while trying to stay alive and a relentless killer disposing of his victims in some very creative ways. Similar to those classics we love are the “please hurry up and kill this person,” the “ OMG, I thought they were the killer,” and “Oh, snap, why did they kill them.” Finally, like any film produced these days, there will be a sequel if it makes money. In my opinion, Thanksgiving will definitely have a sequel.
OUR RATING – A DARK MEAT 8
MEDIA
- Genre – Slasher
- Street date
- Digital – December 19th, 2023
- DVD/Blu-Ray – January 30th, 2024
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 1.55:1
- Sound – English, French (Doublé au Québec), Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English & French – Audio Description Tracks 5.1 Dolby Digital
- Subtitles – French, English, Spanish
Extras
- Audio Commentary – Eli Roth and Jeff Rendell deliver a fun audio commentary for the film. Eli and Jeff have been friends since kindergarten and got to make this film together where they discuss making movies with each other in their childhood, comparing their real friends to the characters in the movie, and dissecting the narrative, tone, and practical effects too. It’s a fun listen.
- Behind The Screams (HD, 4 Mins.) – Eli and Jeff talk about always wanting to make this type of horror movie since they were growing up and how they finally were allowed to.
- Gore Galore (HD, 4 Mins.) – This focuses on the practical effects of the film with some great behind-the-scenes footage.
- Outtakes (HD, 5 Mins.) – A good collection of laughs, flubbed lines, missed cues, splashing blood, and dancing.
- Deleted Scenes (HD. 35 Mins.) – A whopping 35 minutes of extended scenes and deleted sequences, some of which include more gore and torture.
- Massachusetts Movies (HD, 12 Mins.) – Eli and Jeff talk and show five of the short films they made when they were little kids.