Consider the slasher film for a moment. When executed poorly, it is a beaten trope that has difficulty challenging audiences. I could cite 60 slashers that have bored me to submission. When done smartly, a great slasher can be a compelling whodunit, pulling the crowds in with its mystery, story, and well-written characters. This latter camp is hard to come by because slashers, in their honesty, don't want to be interesting. These latter films are not trash but bad trash. They are a quick shot of sugary goodness, like a slice of pumpkin pie. You know it tastes good, but you should only have a little at once and definitely not too often. The last strong contender for the slasher template with brains, what I would call "good trash," would be the original Scream. 

 

This new film from director Eli Roth, Thanksgiving, or at least this 2023 version of that original story, lies in the middle of that slasher movie continuum. 

 

Sixteen years have elapsed since the holiday-themed slasher "Thanksgiving" faux trailer premiered between 2007's Grindhouse double feature of Planet Terror and Death Proof. Inspired by other holiday-themed horrors such as Black Christmas, April Fool's Day, and, naturally, Halloween, this Eli Roth creation featured gratuitous gore, nudity, and language in two and a half minutes. Speculation spurned out of the trailer's popularity, with many fans hoping to see a feature-length turkey-basted terror one day. The whole concept seemed like a pipe dream until now. 

 

Eli Roth's Thanksgiving snuck into theaters and right on time for the big holiday. Many differences exist between that original trailer from 2007 and the film we finally have now, but there are a handful of similarities, too. If you haven't seen that original trailer, you're better off if you intend to see this film because this is a tale of one story but two separate films. 

 

To explain the plot would be insulting, if not brazenly dull, for the crowd this film is meant to entertain. Thanksgiving hits all of the appropriate slasher wickets. The opening sequence displaying a Black Friday shopping spree gone awry is socially exploitative. This sequence introduces all the characters we need to know, but none that we really need to care about. The kills are excessively violent and unabashedly gross à la Eli Roth's horror signature. Deducing the mysterious masked killer's identity took zero brain power; I figured out the answer before the second act began. Bad writing leaves wonderful, distinct clues. 

 

Despite, or rather because Thanksgiving ran through the slasher trope playbook to the letter, I had a lot of fun with this story. Eli Roth has always played to his strengths, even if his storytelling capabilities cannot escape his tiny island of disgusting gore porn tendencies. Thanksgiving is not the most violent slasher or even the nastiest Roth outing. The cast knows what time of film they’re in. Patrick Dempsey, Ty Olsson, Addison Rae, and Gina Gershon all bring the maxim of slasher character exuberance to this project. Thanksgiving knows precisely what it is, and the people who will spend money to see it will get what they pay for.

 

I cannot justify giving Thanksgiving a full recommendation. Not because this film is terribly gross with a paint-by-numbers plot, but because there is a quiet and friendly understanding of what to expect from films like Thanksgiving with its core audience. Notably in this unabashed, albeit very nuanced accord, this film will not be accessible to everyone, and probably not even to every horror fan. I found myself laughing and clapping at certain parts, not because they were comically terrible, but because I could tell Thanksgiving was a sly love letter aimed to please only that tiny cluster of slasher devotees. I suspect that particular assembly of horror fans will embrace this film as a new holiday tradition. As far as slashers go, Thanksgiving is trash, but maybe not bad trash.