I’d been looking forward to Eli Roth’s new movie, Thanksgiving, for a while now since being teased by the trailer at Cineworld, so I recently popped over to Cineworld to check out this new 18-rated movie to see if it is as good as it looked.
In the aftermath of a deadly Black Friday riot, the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts is struck by a mysterious killer, whose inspiration seems to be Thanksgiving. The killer starts targeting residents one by one, initially appearing to be randomly seeking revenge, but soon it becomes apparent that there is a more sinister holiday plan at play. Will the town be able to uncover the killer’s identity and survive the holidays, or will they become unwilling guests at his twisted holiday dinner table?
It’s a shame that Thanksgiving didn’t arrive at the cinema last month for my Shocktober as it would be perfect for that list, but I’m sure I will have it on next year’s list. The film kicks off with a few shocks during the opening of the Black Friday riot at a store, as the public just wants to get into it as the first 100 people get a free waffle iron!
With the carnage still fresh in our minds we jump forward a year as a killer is out for blood and seems to be hunting down those who were at the store on the terrible day 12 months ago, this killer has a passion for using items that you would use in the kitchen for thanksgiving as their murder weapons and uses them in some gruesome and sometimes gory ways, hence the 18 rating for the film.
The great mystery of Eli Roth‘s Thanksgiving is that we have to work out for ourselves who “The Carver” is, there are plenty of moments that throw in a curve ball to put you off the sent, but I did find myself getting to around halfway through the film before I worked out for myself who was carving up the victims, although I did have to wait to the end of the film to see if I was right.
If you are a fan of the ‘slasher’ genre of films then Thanksgiving doesn’t really disappoint with its moments of blood and guts that some may find very disturbing, I had someone sitting behind me that at one point I thought she was going to throw up!
Of course, with my rather macabre sense of humour, I did find myself laughing at several moments, but hey that’s part of the fun of a film like this one that breaks up the tension with some scenes that bring a smile to your face and then comes right back at you with a decapitation to say, “yes, this is a horror”.
Thanksgiving has a great cast including Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy) as Sheriff Eric Newlon, Gina Gershon (Bound, Killer Joe) and Rick Hoffman (Suits, Hostel), all the cast works well together on screen and the tension is kept well during the film.
If you love your gory horror with a dash of black comedy then Thanksgiving is certainly a film that you will want to check out, my advice is to see it in the cinema as this is the best place to have some screams with fellow horror fans.