Thanksgiving (2023)

Thanksgiving is a perfect example of the kind of slasher I enjoy revisiting. Eli Roth gives it a nasty sense of humor, some genuinely inventive kills, and a mystery that keeps you guessing without forgetting to be entertaining. I like straightforward slashers, but this one offers a little more than simply watching a masked killer work through a group of victims.

The Black Friday opening is exactly the kind of chaotic sequence you want from a movie like this. It's extreme, a little absurd, and establishes the tone immediately. From there, the story moves into a revenge mystery, with the characters trying to figure out who is behind the killings. That whodunit structure gives the audience something to play along with between the more graphic scenes.

One of the things that works is how much the movie understands its own ridiculousness. It is violent, and some of the deaths are shocking, but there is also humor woven through the story. The jokes don't erase the tension. They make the film feel more like a fun theatrical experience instead of an exhausting exercise in cruelty.

The cast is strong enough to keep the mystery moving, and the direction feels confident. Roth knows how to frame a nasty gag and how long to let the audience anticipate what might happen. A few moments made me wince even after I'd seen the film before. That ability to make familiar material entertaining on another viewing is a big part of why I like it.

I also appreciate that the holiday theme isn't just decoration. The setting, imagery and central catastrophe all tie into Thanksgiving and the shopping frenzy around it. This is the kind of film you can turn into a seasonal tradition, the same way certain people always revisit Christmas horror movies.

Thanksgiving isn't subtle, and it has no interest in being polite. It delivers exactly the bloody, suspenseful and funny slasher experience it promises. I've already enjoyed returning to it, and I expect to keep doing that. It's an easy recommendation for horror fans who like a good mystery served with their gruesome kills.

I love Thanksgiving, and I think it's exactly the kind of slasher that works for me. Yes, it's bloody, and some of the kills are incredibly gross. But it also has good acting, humor, and a mystery that keeps me interested the entire time. I don't feel like I'm just waiting for the next person to get killed.

The story starts with a Black Friday disaster, and then the people connected to it begin getting targeted. I liked trying to figure out who the killer was. I kept thinking one person might be responsible, then the movie would make me suspicious of somebody else. It's almost like playing a game while you're watching. That makes the story much more fun for me than a movie where I already know the killer and just watch them chase everybody.

The acting helped, too. The characters felt like real people within this very over-the-top situation. I could get interested in what was happening to them instead of sitting there wondering why I should care. And even though the movie is pretty gruesome, there are enough laughs and entertaining moments that I never felt like I was being punished for watching it.

Some of those kills did make me look away. I had been warned that it was graphic, and I can understand why someone who doesn't like gore would decide to skip it. For me, though, the violence feels like part of the wild slasher experience rather than the entire reason the film exists. It didn't leave me feeling miserable or depressed afterward.

I liked this movie so much that when I got the chance to watch it again, I was happy to do it. That's unusual for me with horror, especially when I already know what happens. But the story is entertaining enough that I don't mind revisiting it, and it's fun to notice little things you missed the first time.

If you're looking for a Thanksgiving-themed horror movie, this is an easy choice for me. It has the scares, mystery, humor, and bloody surprises I want, and it never forgets to be entertaining. I'm glad it finally got a place on our regular holiday watch list.