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Thanksgiving is the latest slasher thriller to grace our screens, and comes from the reins of Eli Roth, so we know that when blood is spilled, he won’t hold back.
First up, though, comes an obvious Halloween spoof, as McDreamy, sorry, Sheriff Eric Newlon (Patrick Dempsey – Bridget Jones’ Baby) approaches the house where a party’s about to happen. However, despite the occasion, people seem more interested in an early Black Friday trip to the shops for a melee.
Some get injured in incredibly gross and gory ways, so the body count starts early, with the Black Friday scene, itself, already coming across like a zombie movie.
Then we go to one year later, and while at first I thought it would be those who caused the stampede would be the ones to get their comeuppance, it felt more like a free-for-all, which was rather rum. However, amongst the poor unfortunates, there is some humour you can’t help but laugh at, such as when one character gets half their face burned off, tries to call for help, resulting with their phone’s auto-recognition declaring, “Face not recognised”.
Whoever the baddie is dresses as John Carver, of whom I’d never heard. According to Wikipedia, “John Carver was one of the Pilgrims who braved the Mayflower voyage in 1620 which resulted in the creation of Plymouth Colony in America”. Why he’s related to all this shenanigans, I have no idea, but then you just need someone in a mask for this sort of film, and any mask will do.
For those selected, their names are all placed around a table, set for Thanksgiving, and suspects could be anyone, perhaps even Jessica’s (Nell Verlaque) ex-boyfriend, Bobby (Jalen Thomas Brooks), who ghosted everyone after last year’s Black Friday calamity, including her? Or would that be too obvious to guess?
Plenty of ridiculous deaths ensue, several of which made me wince, so you DO get your money’s worth, for sure.
Plus, there’s a very brief post-credits scene, which only I hung around to see…
Thanksgiving is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD, with the release date TBA.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 106 minutes
Release date: November 17th 2023
Studio: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Eli Roth
Producers: Roger Birnbaum, Jeff Rendell, Eli Roth
Screenplay: Jeff Rendell
Music: Brandon Roberts
Cast:
Sheriff Eric Newlon: Patrick Dempsey
Kathleen: Karen Cliche
Jessica: Nell Verlaque
Thomas Wright: Rick Hoffman
Bobby: Jalen Thomas Brooks
Evan: Tomaso Sanelli
Yulia: Jenna Warren
Scuba: Gabriel Davenport
Mitch Collins: Ty Victor Olsson
Amanda Collins: Gina Gershon
Grandma: Lynne Griffin
Mayor Cantin: Derek McGrath
Mayor Cantin’s Wife: Katherine Trowell
Lonnie: Mika Amonsen
Lizzie: Amanda Barker
Amy: Shailyn Griffin
Manny: Tim Dillon
Doug: Chris Sandiford
Gabby: Addison Rae
Bobby’s Fan: Xavier Sabeta
Ryan: Milo Manheim
Scott: James Goldman
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.