THANKSGIVING (2023)
We made it to the movie theater this week for another holiday horror film: THANKSGIVING. Directed by Eli Roth, Thanksgiving is the culmination of work that began WAY back circa 2006. Back in 2007 one of our favorite film experiences was a double feature presentation called GRINDHOUSE: two films for the price of one, PLANET TERROR directed by Robert Rodriguez and DEATH PROOF directed by Quentin Tarantino. And between each film were a handful of "fake" trailers for movies that didn't exist... yet. Among these trailers were MACHETE (which later became a real film in 2010) and Thanksgiving.
Grindhouse was an homage to the 70s grindhouse theatrical experience, the films themselves fully embracing the exploitation movie esthetics of the 70s and 80s, full of over the top gore, action, and spectacle complete with intentionally inserted film-grain, missing reels, and melted camera negatives. And even the fake trailers were designed and crafted to be like the insane trailers of the era. The entire Grindhouse experience from 2007 remains one of the greatest film experiences we've ever had.
When Machete became a "real" movie we went out to the theaters to support it (and Machete Kills too!). We even purchased it on blu-ray along with HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN (another Grindhouse fake trailer turned real movie). And when news first dropped that Eli Roth's Thanksgiving was becoming a real movie we were stoked! The original fake trailer from 2007 was a hardcore homage to the golden age of slasher films. The slasher films from the late 70s and early 80s held nothing back and neither did this trailer. While utterly ludicrous and ridiculously extreme, the trailer was brilliant. In a way, the Thanksgiving fake trailer set a really high bar to hit if the film was ever actually going to be made. And sixteen years later it became a reality!
So, how was the real Thanksgiving movie?
In short... the fake trailer was WAY better.
THE SYNOPSIS
After a horrible accident during last year's Black Friday sale, the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts is still reeling from the trauma. The dark cloud hanging over the town takes grizzly shape as a masked killer strikes on Thanksgiving. Targeting people responsible for the events of last year's Black Friday accident, one by one citizens of Plymouth go missing. Cryptic social media posts point to a year long gestating revenge, promising that this Thanksgiving there will be no leftovers.
INITIAL REACTION
Having seen the fake trailer many times and loving it more with every viewing, a preconceived expectation was baked into this film. When Machete was made into a real movie, Robert Rodriguez succeeded in capturing the "magic" of that fake trailer in an entire film. That film remained 100% true to its inspiration. Thanksgiving, however, doesn't, leaving a lot left to be desired. At once Thanksgiving is an homage to classic slasher films yet attempting to be something new and relevant. For us here at Blood Work, the film works best went it's being an homage, but falls short when tries to be something else.
The opening sequence is quite effective and really sets the movie up for greatness. At the onset the film really recalls such classics of the genre like Happy Birthday To Me (1981), The Prowler (1981), and even Prom Night (1980). While watching Thanksgiving we found ourselves wanting to go home and watch one of these classic slashers afterwards. It was a good feeling and had us excited for the rest of the movie. It even had us feeling like this movie could become a holiday viewing tradition. But as the film goes on it loses this feeling.
A lot has changed with Hollywood in the last sixteen years, and the world for that matter, and it becomes sadly apparent as the movie continues. Many standout sequences from the fake trailer are sadly missing, but this wouldn't have been a bad thing had the film offered something equally standout or better to replace it with. Thanksgiving disappointingly feels tame compared to its fake trailer, and radically uneven throughout. There are great moments such as the attack at the diner, but then later moments feel lackluster, such as the high school attack. Then there's the "Thanksgiving dinner" scene, that comes real close to being legendary, but is then followed up by a rather standard and unremarkable finale.
And the killer leaves too many people alive! A disturbing trend we're seeing in current horror movies are that there are too many survivors at the end. Scream 5 & 6 had WAY too many people survive. Cocaine Bear had way too many people survive. And the list goes on! Have the killers gone soft? Are we seeing a resurgence of MPAA censorship like in the late 80s (which neutered many a great horror film)? Why are so many people left alive at the end of these movies? First off, it makes the killer look weak and less threatening, it also leaves the story feeling less harrowing and diluted. And, especially if you're trying to be a slasher film, there should only be one female survivor reduced to a hysterical mess (not hardened and standing badass over the killer's corpse). And, unless your name is Ash or Dr. Loomis, no male should be alive either. Thanksgiving, in another disappointing turn, leaves far too many people alive at the end, including a handful of men.
In a positive for the film, Patrick Dempsey is great in the movie. It's a nice touch having an 80s movie star in a film which, started out at least, as an 80s homage. He delivers a fun performance and is a bright spot in the movie. The entire cast is generally good in their roles, making you believe in the shallow vapid nature of teenagers. Other than the lead heroine, Nell Verlaque, they all should've been killed off though.
THE VERDICT
Thanksgiving doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. It succeeds when it leans into the classic 80s slasher esthetic, but fails when it tries to be serious and modern. Eli Roth is fairly hit or miss for us here at Blood Work and Thanksgiving kinda falls in the middle somewhere. There are some great set-pieces here and there and an equal number of underwhelming moments. But ultimately this movie doesn't come close to the fake trailer from 2007. Hell Fest (2018) felt like a better tribute to the golden age of slashers and while managing to feel modern simultaneously.
Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 1 out of 10
All in all, while I'm glad Thanksgiving is finally a real movie, it illustrates that this movie may have been made far too late. As it is, it misses the charm and, perhaps the entire point, of the fake trailer. And Michael Biehn. The great actor Michael Biehn was sorely missed. If this movie receives a wildly different and intense unrated director's cut when it arrives on home video we'll give it another shot. But as is, once is enough. We're glad Thanksgiving was finally made and we're glad we went out and supported it, but, damn, it should've been so much more than this. We did enjoy it far better than the Exorcist Believer though...
For more of our thoughts on all things horror, check out these other posts below
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HELL FEST (2018)
