Thanksgiving Blu-ray Review
“Thanksgiving” is an entertaining slasher.
Based on Eli Roth’s faux trailer of the same name from “Grindhouse,” 2023’s “Thanksgiving” is a feature-length slasher horror film directed by Roth and written by Jeff Rendell. The story takes place in Plymouth, Massachusetts and begins on Thanksgiving Day where Jessica and her friends venture to her father’s big box store called RightMart for a Black Friday sale. The unruly crowd ends up stampeding inside the store resulting in several horrific deaths. The story jumps ahead a year later to the next Thanksgiving where another massacre is taking place. It appears someone in a John Carver mask is murdering people involved with the stampede a year prior and Jessica, her father, and her friends are among those being targeted. Who is the killer? What is their personal vendetta? Those are the questions.
Ever since the “Thanksgiving” trailer debuted with “Grindhouse,” horror fans have been hoping Eli Roth would turn his trailer into a movie. At long last it has finally happened, but it’s not quite what we saw in the trailer. Not only are several trailer scenes not in this movie version, but that grimey 80’s vibe is missing from this 2023 take. This is very much a modern slasher. While it’s understandable that Roth would deviate from his original trailer (likely for commercial reasons), it’s still a bit of a bummer to see as that trailer has become so iconic.
On the plus side, there’s a lot of new material here that stands out. The Black Friday that goes horribly awry sequence is the highlight of the entire movie. It’s chaotic, nasty and it sets the tone for what is to come. Of course, given that this is an Eli Roth movie, there’s plenty of gore here as well. The practical effects and makeup effects by Adrien Morot are especially noteworthy. The fake heads in particular are incredibly lifelike.
Plot wise, this is a holiday themed slasher revenge flick and that’s all you need it to be. As someone that grew up on slashers, it’s always nice to see the horror subgenre evolve and continue on. It won’t surprise me if this becomes a new franchise. In fact, a sequel is already reportedly in the works.
Cast wise, the two most noteworthy performances here are Patrick Dempsey and Nell Verlaque. Verlaque (of “Big Shot” fame) has a lot of charisma and is bound to be a future star. It’s unusual to see Dempsey (who plays Sheriff Newton) in a role like this, but the actor seems to relish playing something very different from the norm.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 2.39:1 1080p. How does it look? Viewers can expect a crisp hi-def transfer.
Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? The 5.1 track is lively.
Extras:
* Digital copy
* Sony trailers
* Commentary by Eli Roth and Jeff Rendell.
* 14 deleted, alternate and extended scenes.
* 5 minutes of outtakes.
* “Massachusetts Movies: Eli And Jeff’s Early Films” with optional commentary- Eli and Jeff talk about their long friendship followed by 5 archival short films they made in their youth.
* “Gore Galore”- A short featurette on the makeup effects.
* “Behind The Screams”- Another short featurette. This one contains interviews, set footage, and discussions about how the project came about.
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