By: Jesse Striewski

It took close to two decades before Director Eli Roth finally turned Thanksgiving, his mock trailer from 2007’s Grindhouse, into a full-length feature film. But while the 2023 update to the slasher-flick-that-never-was may be more polished, it misses the mark on many of the original trailer’s mysteriousness and campy feel.

For the sake of full transparency I’ll be completely honest; I’m nowhere near a huge fan of Roth’s films (I actually kind of despise the Hostel movies and the whole “torture porn” genre), but I was willing to give this one a fair try just based off of just that original gritty clip so long ago.

Long story short, it all starts when a Black Friday sale at a fictional RightMart store in Plymouth, Massachusetts ends in a riot that causes numerous fatalities and/or life-altering injuries. This becomes the catalyst for the killer’s motives, who returns one year later to exact grisley revenge on the town.

The tension-building cat-and-mouse chases are well-executed, and Nell Verlaque as the young lead heroine Jessica is the premier damsel in distress any red-bloodied male would go out of their way to protect. Patrick Dempsey adds the only real notable star power, and gives a (mostly) solid performance throughout. The nods to the Misfits and Dio-era Black Sabbath are cleverly thrown in as well.

Now the cons; the majority of other characters border on unlikable and/or forgettable, and the dialogue is dumbed-down to unnecessarily crude levels. And many key scenes (such as the famous “trampoline” and “dinner” scenes) feel too rushed without the chance to be fully realized before coming to abrupt ends (the “parade” scene was actually rather true to form, though). And while we’re on the subject of endings, the one here is far too cliche and predictable that it more or less insults its own audiences’ intelligence.

In short, Thanksgiving is worth a watch at least once for any serious horror fan out there, but I’m not about to go back for leftovers anytime soon.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars