After 16 years, horror director Eli Roth (“Hostel,” ”The Green Inferno”) has finally given fans of his “Grindhouse” spoof slasher film trailer what they wanted- the feature film of “Thanksgiving” has come to fruition. Should they have been careful what they wished for? Because Roth has made “Thanksgiving” with care, fans can breathe easy and give thanks.
For those who don’t remember 2007’s “Grindhouse,” this was the B-movie double feature homage that Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino put together. Interspersed with their respective features ‘Planet Terror’ and ‘Death Proof’ were fake trashy trailers for likeminded B-movie fare. One of the fake coming attractions was by Roth for a horror movie named ‘Thanksgiving’ that, in true slasher film tradition, showed a Pilgrim-clad stalker skewering people. What sealed the deal for me was ‘Thanksgiving’s’ gravelly-toned narrated tagline-“White meat. Dark meat. All will be carved.” So entertaining and impressive was Roth’s trailer that demand for Roth to actually make the film soon started. Though it took some time, Roth has skillfully crafted a slasher film with staple elements to please and a story more focused on the mystery of a murdering menace than fornicating teens getting flayed.
Like the 2007 trailer, “Thanksgiving” takes place in the holiday’s birthplace, Plymouth, Mass., and begins on the holiday itself. While some are sitting at their tables, others have opted to go to the local superstore for early Black Friday deals. Though barricades have been set up for the gathering throng, the superstore owner’s daughter Jessica (Nell Verlaque) and a handful of her friends gain early access through the store’s side door. When the crowd outside sees Jessica and her friends through the glass-walled front entrance, they become incensed and angry being denied admission. Breaking down the gated barricade, the crazed consumers storm the store like 1979’s Who concert in Cincinnati- people are trampled, others bludgeoned with boxes containing waffle irons (big screen TV boxes are harder to handle)..
Needless to say, the tragedy takes hold of the town. When bizarre murders begin to befall those present at the superstore that evening, Sheriff Newlon (Patrick Dempsey) sees security camera crime footage of the culprit- a Puritan-costumed killer wearing a John Carver mask (the mask is a nod to Plymouth’s governor; his last name a nod to Roth’s tongue-in-cheek humor). Jessica and her friends are soon tagged by the killer in online posts of a dinner table with place cards set for them. As the featured feast consists of the newly decomposing corpses the killer has collected, it’s up to Jessica and her friends to find the serial killer before they’re served up themselves.
While “Thanksgiving” recreates scenes from the 2007 trailer, the story had to be created and it’s here that Roth scores with an above-average script. Though the slasher genre features more nubile teens awaiting execution as they fumble in the dark with jump scares to force screams, Roth takes a more focused tact with creative kills, humor and homages to horror films like “Friday the 13th” and “Killer Klowns from Outer Space.” In short, Roth’s obvious love for the genre and respect for his fans is ever apparent. The violence isn’t as tortuously harsh as Roth’s previous films; “Thanksgiving’s” gore leans more toward fun- mixed with decapitations and overflowing intestines, holiday must-haves like electric slicers and spiked corn-on-the-cob holders being maliciously misused. Hardcore horror fans may find the film tame, but they’ll appreciate the love letter to the long gone slasher genre that Roth has revived. More nostalgic than nasty, “Thanksgiving” is the surprise gift anxious moviegoers awaited but never thought they’d receive.