Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Starring Patrick Dempsey, Nell Verlaque, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks
Directed by Eli Roth
In the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Thanksgiving is as important a holiday as Christmas, and everyone celebrates with a festive parade and Thanksgiving dinner before embarking on America's greatest celebration - Black Friday. Yet Black Friday now starts on Thanksgiving, and at the local RightMart Superstore there was a madhouse massacre that resulted in the deaths of numerous patrons.
One year later, Jessica (Nell Verlaque), the daughter of the owner, finds herself under attack by a mysterious man wearing a John Carver mask. Yet she's not alone, as her friend group - who gained early access to the store before the raving mob - also receive cryptic messages from the masked killer. Not only that, but other patrons and workers during that night succumb to Carver's blood-thirty rampage, and it's up to Jessica and Sheriff Eric Newlon (Patrick Dempsey) to find the killer before he carves out his own place in serial killer history.
The Good:
Eli Roth is a genius when it comes to gory horror. "Cabin Fever," "Hostel," and "The Green Inferno" prove that he not only has a love of horror, but especially bloody violent horror that relies mostly on practical effects than lame CGI. With "Thanksgiving," continues his tradition of not just directing a gory good time, but writing it as well, giving a simplistic slasher that's light and fluffy when it comes to its story. At barely two hours it doesn't overstay its welcome like your least favorite drunk Uncle, and he provides enough thrills, chills, and sills (my own word for "silly," but I wanted to rhyme) to keep the audience entertained. There's no deep philosophical look at the human condition (save for some brief moments where issues like going viral invade the script) - it's just a masked killer seeking revenge for something that happened a year ago. It doesn't carve it's own path to something unique, and it doesn't need to: it's the perfect stuffing for the horror aficionado.
In a day and age where most movies are berated even before they come to the big screen, "Thanksgiving" unites audiences in ways I haven't seen in awhile. Our theater was almost packed on a Tuesday night, and the audience was really getting engaged in the film. People jumped, laughed, and talked during the film but not in a way that was annoying or showing their annoyance, but actively interacting with what they were seeing on screen. After the show we overheard some teens talking about their favorite kills, and it was oddly refreshing to see people actually enjoying themselves at the movies - something that seems more and more rare nowadays.
The gore is delivered by the hands of a precise artist, flourishing with beautiful practical effects that never take you out of the story. While use of CGI has been more prevalent, when it's done horribly it pulls you out of the movie entirely - and here there's no such thing. Whether people are getting their heads cut off, their upper torsos separating from their bottom, or necks getting twisted 180 degrees, you're all in on it. They're funny but not unintentionally, whereas you'd laugh at some cheesy kills in other movies. You laugh here because you feel in on the joke, releasing some tension that comes with the violence you see on screen.
As someone who works retail the opening scene is truly the most horrific, because even though it goes over-the-top once people start getting killed (although, sadly, not over-the-top enough as we all heard stories of people getting trampled to death in real life), it still triggered me bringing back memories of irate customers wanting their half-off air fryer or new gaming system as they lined up like cattle in the cold snowy Thanksgiving night. The entire sequence was a fantastic way to open the movie, and was wonderfully shot, edited, and performed.
The cast consists of basic newcomers when it comes to the teens, and unlike other slasher films we actually gain enough information on them to care about their fates even though we know most won't make it. Leading the pack is newcomer Nell Verlaque as Jessica, who is a mix of intelligence and honestly downright stupidity (such as one scene where she gets away from the killer and instead of getting into a literally running car actually follows the killer into an empty building). She does great in her first leading role, and the other young up-and-coming talent also shine. While they follow traditional tropes (the jock, the nerd, the cheerleader, etc.), they have a deeper sense of knowledge that brought me back to the classics like "Scream" (God, calling that a classic really makes me feel old). "Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey cements the performances as the kindly sheriff who is trying to help uncover the killer, and he performs on par with the newcomers as to not outshine them.
The Bad:
When you think about it, it's pretty easy to deduce who the killer was. It still doesn't take away from the fun though.
The Summary:
Offering something new this holiday season, "Thanksgiving" is as light as the whip cream on your pumpkin pie, but will satisfy your horror hunger like the best Thanksgiving turkey you could find.
The Score: A
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