Eli Roth’s new horror mystery movie “Thanksgiving” was genuinely one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.
On the anniversary of a Black Friday tragedy that left townsfolk dead, someone has come back for revenge. This killer is targeting those who were involved that night, including main character Jessica and her friends Gabby, Scuba, Evan and Yulia.
Jessica’s father and his new wife Kathleen are also targets, as they are the owners of “Right Mart,” the store in which the disaster occurred. An interesting concept, sure, but the execution was horrible.
Either I am just way too into the classics and hold a high standard to my horror movies or this movie truly was awful.
The acting in this movie was absolutely awful. It felt like I was watching an episode of “Riverdale.” The characters barely showed any emotion, whether that be fear, distress or courage.
When Addison Rae does a better job acting as a side character than the main actress does in her role, that is when you know the movie failed.
The only big name this movie had was Patrick Dempsey, who played Sheriff Eric Newlon, unless you count ‘90s star Gina Gershon who had a smaller role.
Of course, big names do not have to be in movies for the film to be good, but the acting was just so terrible it felt like everyone’s first attempt at it. Also, the movie is set in Massachusetts and either characters had no accent at all or had an atrocious one.
I had high hopes for the gore of this movie. Slashers make great horror, and as a fan of movie franchises like “Scream” and “Halloween,” I was excited. But, almost every single death in the movie looked incredibly fake. Even Damien Leone’s “Terrifier” movies did a better job with blood and guts. Almost all of the craziest deaths were in the trailer.
There was one particular death that was super creative, which did earn this movie points, but it was not enough to make this a spectacular slasher.
The plot felt messy at times and I am honestly so sick of horror movies giving characters dead parents as a character trait. In this movie specifically, the main character’s deceased mother is a minor detail that eventually becomes important for no reason.
The cinematography was nothing special either, whereas in other slashers the filmmaking adds to the suspense and uneasiness. This movie even tried to pay homage to other classics, beginning the film with parallel camera work from “Halloween” and had similar elements to “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
It seems as if I am an outlier though, as Letterboxd fans are raving about it. One user named Sydney wrote that this is “the type of lean mean campy blood unadulterated fun that has been way too sparse in the genre lately,” even going on to say that Roth created “something entirely his own that should and will become a new cult franchise.”
The highest liked review gives the movie four stars, user @CinemaJoe saying, “it has a ferocious and hilarious personality of its own,” and adding that the film is a “non-negotiable” watch every November.
My personal favorite, however, came from a woman named Kimmie who wrote, “More like something I would’ve watched on Netflix with my dad.” I whole-heartedly agree with this.
Either I am just way too into the classics and hold a high standard to my horror movies or this movie truly was awful. For me, the bad acting, unoriginal plot, basic cinematography and weak gore earn this movie no more than one star — and that is because there is a cat in it.
Thanks, but it’s not giving.
1 / 5 stars.
ajones11@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @thanksgivingmovie, Instagram
