Thanksgiving

Starring: Nell Verlaque, Patrick Dempsey, Rick Hoffman, Milo Manheim, Addison Rae, Karen Cliche, Jenna Warren, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Gabriel Davenport, Gina Gershon

Director: Eli Roth

Jess (Verlaque), her boyfriend Bobby (Thomas Brooks) and her friends (Rae, Manheim, Davenport, Warren) stop by her father Thomas's (Hoffman) store RightMart on Black Friday only to witness a riot that claims the lives of several residents. One year later, and with the town still coping with the events of that night, a mysterious and vicious killer named John Carver arrives in Plymouth looking to seek violent revenge on those involved in that fateful night. As people get picked off one by one, Jess and her friends are forced to do all they can to survive before they become the next entry on Carver's holiday menu.

I will admit, I am not Eli Roth's biggest fan. While he does have a keen eye for gore, his dialogue ranges anywhere from sophomoric to just downright awful and the accompanying acting doesn't do him any favors either. But he earned me a little good will after the surprisingly fun and well-done The House with a Clock in its Walls, mostly due to the fact that Roth seemed very ill-suited for a kids film. He returns to his horror roots here for surprisingly funny and well-done film.

It feels like Roth has been building towards this movie his entire career, as the idea for this movie began as a fake trailer on 2007's Grindhouse. It was probably the best of the fake trailers that accompanied that double feature and seemed like the mostly likely to actually get adapted.

So what sets this apart from Roth's other films? Well, first and foremost I enjoyed that he set the movie at a holiday other than Christmas. Although they are very different, I think it would make a fun double feature with another underseen holiday classic Krampus. And while its surprisingly not as gory as his other movies, especially The Green Inferno, the gore effects are superb. I'm not saying the movie isn't gory because it has plenty to keep horror aficionados happy. What makes the effects stand out is that they are done practically and really help sell the impressive kills that Roth puts on screen. While the film is filled with memorable ones, two that stand out involve a trampoline and a car running into a dumpster. There's even one that includes corn cob holders. Roth also keeps his tongue firmly planted in cheek for a lot of this as well, with many of the sequences bordering on ridiculous and embracing it. This is probably one of the best horror comedies since Scream (high praise for me as a huge huge fan of that series)

The acting and dialogue also take a dramatic step up in quality. I haven't heard of the actors that play the kids who are trying to escape Carver's axe but they are all excellent. Nell Verlaque especially makes a convincing final girl and doesn't fall into a lot of cliches that these movies usually have. I couldn't tell you the names of the rest of the characters but the actors playing them are good as well.

I would also say this is Roth's most cohesive horror film story-wise. Like Scream, the mystery of Carver's identity is a major plot point. It's not terribly difficult to figure out who is behind the mask but its also not as predictable as the recent Scream 6.

This was a pleasant holiday-themed surprise and should this continue as a franchise, which it absolutely bloody could, I would be very exited to see where Roth takes it.

Grade: B+