Thanksgiving might be the biggest surprise for me this year. I wasn't even going to see this film at first. When I first saw the preview, I just thought it was going to be your typical bottom of the barrel horror film based on a holiday. Also, I'm not a big fan of Eli Roth. Up until now, his best film to me is Hostel, which I found to be just okay. After that would be the original Cabin Fever, which isn't that great, but sadly is better than most other things he's worked on.
However, some Internet personalities I follow liked the film, and it's getting actual good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Apparently, this film is based off one of the fake trailers from Grindhouse, like Machete. It's been so long since I watched Grindhouse that I completely forgot that. So, I thought I'd give the film a chance. After seeing it, I would say this is probably Eli Roth's best work. I like it a bit more than Hostel. This might be the best original slasher film to come out since You're Next. It's definitely the best horror movie based around Thanksgiving. I think its only competition is the Thankskilling films, which are awful. This might be one of the best Thanksgiving movies in general, after Planes, Trains, and Automobiles of course.
Now, I'm not saying the film is great. This film is no game-changer, or anything. It's just a fun, straightforward slasher film, which we don't see much of anymore. Again, we don't get many original slasher films nowadays (that get into theaters anyway), let alone ones that are actually decent. Most are either connected to a beloved franchise, like Halloween, or they try to be deconstructions of the genre, like the Scream movies.
It does it well though. It knows exactly what it is and goes for it. It's a well-shot movie. Then the kills happen they're gruesome. If there's one thing Eli Roth knows how to do, it's make good gore scenes. The characters aren't amazing, but they're serviceable. There wasn't anyone in the cast I disliked, aside from the ones I was supposed to hate. The film does drag a little bit at the end, I'll admit.
Overall, as a modern slasher movie it does its job fairly well. If you're not into horror, especially slasher films, then this definitely isn't for you. But for people who are fans of this genre this is worth checking out. I can see this being a film many people, especially horror fans watch every Thanksgiving from here on.
However, some Internet personalities I follow liked the film, and it's getting actual good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Apparently, this film is based off one of the fake trailers from Grindhouse, like Machete. It's been so long since I watched Grindhouse that I completely forgot that. So, I thought I'd give the film a chance. After seeing it, I would say this is probably Eli Roth's best work. I like it a bit more than Hostel. This might be the best original slasher film to come out since You're Next. It's definitely the best horror movie based around Thanksgiving. I think its only competition is the Thankskilling films, which are awful. This might be one of the best Thanksgiving movies in general, after Planes, Trains, and Automobiles of course.
Now, I'm not saying the film is great. This film is no game-changer, or anything. It's just a fun, straightforward slasher film, which we don't see much of anymore. Again, we don't get many original slasher films nowadays (that get into theaters anyway), let alone ones that are actually decent. Most are either connected to a beloved franchise, like Halloween, or they try to be deconstructions of the genre, like the Scream movies.
It does it well though. It knows exactly what it is and goes for it. It's a well-shot movie. Then the kills happen they're gruesome. If there's one thing Eli Roth knows how to do, it's make good gore scenes. The characters aren't amazing, but they're serviceable. There wasn't anyone in the cast I disliked, aside from the ones I was supposed to hate. The film does drag a little bit at the end, I'll admit.
Overall, as a modern slasher movie it does its job fairly well. If you're not into horror, especially slasher films, then this definitely isn't for you. But for people who are fans of this genre this is worth checking out. I can see this being a film many people, especially horror fans watch every Thanksgiving from here on.
