‘Thanksgiving’ Is the Lovably Simplistic Birth of a Slasher Franchise | by Ben Ulansey | Nov, 2024

Eli Roth’s 2023 horror film isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s among the first slashers that the Thanksgiving holiday can call its own

There’s no lack of horror movies that center around Halloween. Even the Christmas holiday has accrued its fair share of chillers and slashers over the decades. But prior to 2023’s Thanksgiving, more depraved viewers like myself have long lamented that there weren’t nearly enough horror films centered around that famous day of turkey consumption.

Pilgrim, Blood Rage, and ThanksKilling each achieved cult followings after their tepid box office performances, but Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving may have been the first film to properly satisfy the appetites of those who didn’t get enough gore out of their Halloween seasons.

Director Eli Roth’s film is devoid of metaphorical depth, but for a movie whose gravitational center is a teleporting man dressed as a pilgrim, it fits the bill perfectly. As with Cocaine Bear, it delivers precisely what it intends to and hardly a morsel more. There are few details to pick at and pull apart.

Thanksgiving begins with a scene that feels like something akin to a crossover between South Park and Scream in its…