THANKGIVING (2023) – A grindhouse treat 16 years in the making!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
On paper Thanksgiving is just a rehash of all the hundreds of horror movies that features teenagers being chased around and brutally killed off one by one by a mysterious masked killer. In fact, come to think of it, it is EXACTLY that! I am just as surprised to find this still manages to come across as hugely entertaining! The characters are all one dimensional and not particularly likeable but at least they do not do across reciting cringe worthy dialouge or scream all the time. It is tongue in cheek without being TOO tongue in cheek. Somehow, director Eli Roth, who is no stranger in this genre, is able to come up with just the right sense of humour, right level of nastiness and silliness to make this Thanksgiving a thrill ride that we have long missed in the genre. It brings back memory of the slasher movies of the 1980’s.
Eli Roth has the talent of mixing horror and comedy without letting the comedy take away the pleasure of watching the goriness of the kills. There is no need to jump scares to make us jump. The kills are brutal and perfectly timed and edited to make the impact! Thanksgiving brings nothing new to the genre but it manages to recreate the rollercoaster ride thrills of the genre well. Usually in such movies the casting isn’t really important. Having a familiar face like Patrick Dempsey feels like a bonus. He was recently named People’s sexist man alive for 2023! He hasn’t appeared in any major movies for a long time since his departure from his TV series Grey Anatomy. He will be seen again soon in a supporting role in Ferrari. Although Patrick may not be the main character here, he nevertheless provides a nice degree of star power and screen presence in the mix.
One thing that should be mentioned here is that Thanksgiving originated from a mock trailer that was showcased in the 2007 Grindhouse double feature. A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that shows low-budget horror, slasher exploitative films. That trailer was done like a tribute to exploitation films of the genre. It is hence, a treat for horror fans to have technically waited 16 years for the movie to have finally come and to come out looking so good for that matter!