Thanksgiving : La Semaine de l'horreur

IMDB should add comedy to this movie's genres because it's much funnier than it is scary or thrilling. All the kills (with the exception of perhaps one) are strongly telegraphed by the camerawork and sound design. Who the killer would end up being was quite obvious to me about halfway through, but the mystery isn't really the point of this movie. You all know that the reason to see this movie is for the gory kills, and Eli Roth certainly delivers on that point even if the rest of the movie felt pretty textbook. Grab your family and friends to go see this for a fun dessert right after your Thanksgiving dinner!

I attended an advance screening of Thanksgiving (2023) this evening. The plot revolves around the infamous town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, grappling with a tragic Black Friday massacre. As the locals gear up to celebrate Thanksgiving a year later, someone decides to deliver festive justice to those responsible.

Directed by Eli Roth (Cabin Fever), the film stars Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy), Addison Rae (He's All That), Gina Gershon (Killer Joe), Nell Verlaque (The Marijuana Conspiracy), and Rick Hoffman (Ballers).

The movie is truly remarkable. I found myself smiling from the opening scene to the closing credits. It captures a 90s slasher vibe with a plethora of characters who could be the killer, a high school class facing peril, and a relatable motive for the antagonist. The kill scenes are all top-notch, earning a solid 10/10, with a perfect blend of creativity, gore, blood splatter, and more gore. The Black Friday and parade sequences are standout moments, eliciting cheers from tonight's audience. Noteworthy are the elite decapitation scenes and a sequence reminiscent of Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight. For a modern-day slasher, it doesn't get much more enjoyable than this. I'd give this an 8/10 and highly recommend it.

I had fun with this one. Absolutely no expectations going in. If you like Eli Roth, I think this is him on a pretty damn good day.

To me, the biggest flaws were that it felt rushed. Like the scenes with the most fun gore were not polished and the crowd work in the beginning was overall just poor. Also, way too many characters (poorly cast as well). My god, I had no idea what any of them were named. So forgettable. The whole thing was relatively forgettable, if I'm being honest.

But who cares! Not every movie has to leave a deeper impact. Something can just be plain entertaining. And this was that. Leave your expectations at the door and enjoy Mr. Roth's special sauce.

Sat down to watch this last night after wanting to see this movie since it came out.

I came away a little bit disappointed with the whole movie.

Firstly I didn't know this movie was a comedy horror, even though it's not classed as one, it certainly felt like one.

The murder scenes were so over the top you couldn't help but laugh at them.

As one reviewer stated on the Totally Killer review, that the problem when a movie is played for laughs, the tense and murder scene are not that frightening because of the comedy element.

This I found spoiled the movie somewhat for me.

Would I watch it again, no I wouldn't.

Will I watch the sequel when it comes out in 2025, yes I will as I didn't hate the film but I felt it wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

A struggling five star rating.

For a horror movie fan like me, I predicted this more than I predicted Scream VI. Quite obvious who it was when the car scene happened. Excepted.

The Black Friday scene was my favorite scene. There was a lot of gore, and the scene maybe even made me giggle a time or two. It was constructed with care, and the deaths were on point, I also enjoyed the killers motive. It made sense and it was a smart point.

I also enjoyed the cat scene. It gives some kind of feeling for the killer that makes you feel sad for him. If you don't understand what I mean, then ignore this.

Overall I would give this a 6.8 out of ten.