I have been informed of long-lead movie trailers, but this is especially outrageous. After 16 years since it was first teased as one of the fake coming attractions in 2007’s Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double-feature collaboration Grindhouse, Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving has finally hit the big screen.
Featuring plenty of the gore promised in the trailer, this throwback slasher pic will gratify genre fans who will appreciate the titular holiday finally getting its own horror film along with the likes of Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc. This one is no instant classic, ranking more along the lines of April Fool’s Day than the gold standard of its ilk, Halloween. However, it offers plenty of cheap thrills or more accurately, cheap kills, presented with the sort of attention to bloodthirsty detail that horror aficionados crave. Pity, though, that there aren’t really any more actual grindhouses.
Set in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the film begins spectacularly, with an elaborate, expertly staged sequence depicting a riot at a big box store named Right Mart (any resemblance to Walmart is strictly coincidental, presumably) on Thanksgiving night, the start of its Black Friday sale. This slightly exaggerated rendition of the sort of violent mayhem that has actually occurred in various places results in several gruesome deaths, including one involving one of the more recognizable cast members. Needless to say, the harrowing footage captured on a cell phone camera quickly goes viral.
Cut to a year later, when the unrepentant store owner plans to once again open the store on the holiday, much to the dismay of his daughter. But someone else is even more upset, namely the serial killer who begins dispatching people who were at the store on that fateful night. Investigating the killings is Sheriff Newland (played by Patrick Dempsey), fresh off his coronation as People’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” which I’m sure is a total coincidence. The hard-working sheriff has his work literally cut out for him as John Carver lives up to his name by chopping and dicing his way through the community, including several of its particularly attractive young people.
“No one appreciates subtlety anymore,” one of the characters ironically complains, and the film is a case in point. There’s exactly nothing subtle about this effort, including the heavy New England accents sported by many of the actors, which result in such amusing exclamations as “Oh, my Gawd!”
The screenplay by Jeff Rendell, who devised the story along with Roth, features welcome doses of the sort of self-aware humor that reassure us that the film is not to be taken too seriously, although without lapsing too heavily into the sort of meta territory the Scream films have now done to death. There are also clever visual touches throughout, as when Jessica attempts to hide from the killer by blending in with a series of mannequin heads sporting wigs.
The film has a strong cast including Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman, and Gina Gershon. Directed by Eli Roth and written by Jeff Rendell, the production is from Dragonfly Entertainment, EMP Productions and distributed by TriStar Pictures, Spyglass Media Group. Other personnel involved include producers Roger Birnbaum and Jeff Rendell, executive producers Gary Barber, Peter Oillataguerre, Greg Denny, Kate Harrison Karman, and Chris Stone, with director of photography Milan Chadima, production designer Peter Mihaichuk, editors Michele Conroy and Michel Aller, costume designer Leslie Kavanagh, composer Brandon Roberts, and casting by Mary Vernieu and Bret Howe.
The film, although not a turkey, is nothing to be too thankful for either. It features imaginative killings and does not shy away from heavy gore. It’s not likely to achieve cult status, but it seems a safe bet the film will be trotted out like a turkey on cable channels and streaming services for many Thanksgivings to come.
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