Modern master of horror Eli Roth has returned to the big screen with Thanksgiving, a festive slasher inspired by horror films of the past.

Thanksgiving began as a fake trailer made by Roth for the Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez double-feature Grindhouse, which you can read about here: https://thepawprintpress.com/16074/features/film-review-grindhouse/

The trailer became massively popular, and Roth would spend the next 15 years developing his ideas into a feature-length script. At long last, Thanksgiving has arrived, and it certainly did not disappoint.

Thanksgiving is a fun, sharp, twisted slasher with an engaging story line, unexpected twists and turns, and an overall creepy atmosphere. It pokes fun at thanksgiving traditions and customs, oftentimes incorporating them into gruesome and even comedic kills. Speaking of which, Thanksgiving is not a film that should be watched by small children due to its scenes of graphic violence. 

The cinematography, acting, writing, and especially directing are all very well done. At times, the dialogue may be corny, but this is done intentionally as an homage to classic slashers of the 1970’s and 1980’s. It is very easy to see that a lot of time, effort, and passion was poured into this film.

The film is littered with tropes of previous Eli Roth movies, like bits of bread in a thanksgiving dressing. It also features lots of familiar faces from his previous works, such as Rick Hoffman.

Overall, Thanksgiving is an effective, suspenseful, and at times genuinely funny contemporary horror film that was well worth the wait. It has elements of films like Halloween, Friday the 13th, Pieces, and even Brian De Palma’s Blow Out. It’s dark, bleak, violent, and as a whole an enjoyable movie going experience. It is definitely a film worth watching in a movie theater.