Notable Cast: Nell Verlaque, Patrick Dempsey, Addison
Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Gabriel Davenport, Tomaso Sanelli,
Jenna Warren, Rick Hoffman, Karen Cliché, Gina Gershon, Ty Olsson
Sixteen years is an incredibly long time. To think where I
was in my life sixteen years ago, is to feel like I’ve looked back upon a half
dozen lifetimes. For director Eli Roth, it’s damn near half a dozen films. Yet,
his 2007 fake trailer for Thanksgiving has remained one of those
fan-favorite ideas that kept coming up repeatedly. Attached to the Quentin
Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez double feature Grindhouse, this throwback
trailer to some long-lost sleazy slasher had fans in a tizzy for nearly two
decades. Watching a fake trailer became a staple of the turkey-powered holiday,
and everyone just kept asking, “When, Eli, when?”
Eli Roth always remembered, and now, sixteen years later, he
has fulfilled that promise of delivering his own holiday treat, Thanksgiving.
Trying to compare this film to its fake trailer is something of a fascinating
way to view it, but really what Roth has done with this film is he’s delivered
a raucous and gory classic slasher with a modern lens that fits right in with
his style of filmmaking - updating genre pickings with a dark comedic bent as a
love letter to cinema. Thanksgiving gives thanks to all the slashers
that come before but manages to hold its own identity with piss n’
vinegar.
What makes Thanksgiving such a fascinating film
though is that, instead of recreating the moments and 70s sleaze tone of the
original trailer, Roth has opted to go with a more modern spin on the same
idea. In a way, Thanksgiving feels like the early 00s remake of a 1970s
slasher and - as a horror fan with a soft spot for that era of slashers - I am
definitely pulling my seat up to the table for it.
Thanksgiving sets the table with plenty of slasher
tropes for the fans of the genre, including the teenage set of protagonists, a
masked and gimmicky killer, plentiful creative kills, and gore galore. It’s a
bit shocking that Roth didn’t go fully in on the sleaze and grime that pop up
in his other films, but then again - it very much feels like the 00s slashers
rather than the 70s one. It doesn’t hold back on some of its fun, horror deaths
though and while I won’t spoil some of the ones not featured in the trailer,
seeing Roth play around with the fall holiday’s gimmicks is a blast to watch.
Is it excruciating to see a person baked alive like a turkey or see someone get
the ol’ corn cob skewers to the ears? Sure, but it’s all fun and games for Roth
and his team to put together some gory and often silly slasher kills filled
with solid tension and fantastic payoffs.
Yet, seeing Roth play around in this slasher playground is
almost par for the course. He wasn’t going to fuck that up, but what’s more
surprising in Thanksgiving is how much fun the film has with its
whodunnit narrative. Like so many slashers, this one very much toys with its
audience in delivering a slew of characters that may or may not be the killer,
who is figured after a pilgrim named John Carver.
The characters and the main plot are introduced through a
horrific event on Black Friday where people storm a box store for the sales and
free waffle irons. Deaths occur, our main group of teens happen to be at the
eye of this story, and Roth even goes as far as to have one character record
the chaos on his phone and release the footage on YouTube in a hilariously dark
moment of comedy (RIP to the victims and don’t forget to click and subscribe.)
This allows the film to play around with its ensemble of characters,
introducing us to the final girl Jessica, played by newcomer Nell Verlaque, and
the teen problems that arise after a tragedy. Each person seemingly has their
motive to be the killer and the script loves to throw red herrings at the
audience from every corner. Who is the Carver and who will be carved? It’s a
blast to just go along for the ride.
As a bonus, Roth’s penchant for off-beat, dark, and often
childish humor is in its wheelhouse with Thanksgiving. Even moments
where tertiary characters get long monologues about Black Sabbath or the
elongated setups to get characters alone for a fun kill play into the humor of
its style and Roth sinks the shot. Although his humor often plays at odds with
his horror in other films (I’m looking at you, The Green Inferno), the
conjunction of the two in this one is impressive. It’s like Roth was built to
make this movie, and it shows in every moment.
While my expectations may have been tempered by the speed
that Thanksgiving was cooked up in the wake of Roth finishing his yet
unreleased adaption of Borderlands, the fact that it so nimbly earns its
merits makes this slasher one of my favorites of the year. The cast is having a
lot of fun with the characters, there’s just enough heart and mystery to keep
its narrative afloat, and the slasher kills and horror builds are aptly
crafted.
With the recently announced sequel on the way, Thanksgiving
already looks to be a holiday must-watch. It’s enough that I’m incredibly
excited to return for seconds.
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