Thanksgiving Blu Ray Review (Sony)
Thanksgiving is a 2023 holiday slasher produced, co-written, and directed by Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel franchise, Green Inferno, Knock Knock, Death Wish, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, and Borderlands). It’s co-written and produced by Jeff Rendell (Grindhouse). It’s based on the fake trailer that appeared in 2007’s Grindhouse. Eli Roth let the production crew for the upcoming Borderlands do the re-shoots while he worked on this. It’s the first horror film to be distributed from TriStar Pictures since 2013. The budget was $15 million and it grossed $46 million worldwide at the box office. A sequel is already in development!!!! 
It’s Thanksgiving in Massachusetts, an impatient mob gathers outside the local RightMart superstore in preparation for their upcoming Black Friday sale. Jessica Wright (played by: Nell Verlaque from Big Shot), the daughter of the owner Thomas (played by: Rick Hoffman from Hostel, Suits, Postal, Cellular, and Blood Work) let’s her boyfriend Bobby (played by: Jalen Thomas Brooks from Walker, Animal Kingdom, and Rebel) plus friends Evan (played by: Tomaso Sanelli from Titans), Gaby (played by: Addison Rae from He’s All That), Scuba (played by: Gabriel Davenport from Web of Lies), and Yulia (played by: Jenna Warren from The Family) inside early. This causes a riot, the angry customers outside stampedes into the store. Multiple people get killed gruesomely including Amanda Collins (played by: Gina Gershon from Showgirls, Bound, Face/Off, Killer Joe, Blockers, Rescue Me, Cocktail, The Insider, Palmetto, and Out For Justice) wife of store manager Mitch (played by: Ty Olsson from Planet of the Apes franchise, X-Men 2, Godzilla, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Slasher, and Supernatural). Bobby gets his arm broken during this chaos and it ruins his baseball career in the riot. He moves away and ghosts the entire group. One year later, RightMart begins preparations for another Black Friday sale pushed by Jessica’s stepmother Kathleen (played by: Karen Cliche from Saw VI and Mutant X) . Bobby returns to Plymouth which triggers Jessica’s current boyfriend Ryan (played by: Milo Manheim from School Spirits, The Conners, and Journey to Bethlehem). Survivors start getting knocked off one by one by a maniac in a John Carver mask so local sheriff Eric Newlon (played by: Patrick Dempsey from Grey’s Anatomy, Can’t Buy Me Love, Loverboy, Some Girls, Mobsters, With Honors, Outbreak, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Scream 3) begins to investigate the brutal killings. The original group of friends keep getting notifications and hints on their upcoming deaths. Can they stop this psychopath before it’s too late? or Will Thanksgiving forever be a living nightmare for the their town???? 
Director Eli Roth returns to horror after doing a few projects the last few years like Fin, Death Wish, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, and Knock Knock. Thanksgiving was one of best fake trailers from 2007’s Grindhouse. It took 16 years but it was worth the wait. Holiday horror and slashers were huge in the 80’s so it’s nice to a modern twist to those classic throwbacks. Thanksgiving is a highly entertaining script and most diehard horror fans will really appreciate it because it pays homage to those films before it. Eli Roth delivers some nasty, creative, and gruesome kills in this Thanksgiving massacre. The special fx has an old school vibe to it. John Carver has the potential to be the next big horror villain for a possible franchise. I really enjoy that classic mask and the real life monster kinda has an old school vibe to him as the bad guy. I love the atmosphere in this, it fits the holiday and it’s iconic culture. They went with more unknown for the younger leads here similar to what they would do back in the day. It works because they feel more natural because you don’t really know them from anywhere. Rick Hoffman is great as the greedy father trying to capitalize on Thanksgiving to make lots of money at his store during Black Friday. Gina Gershon returns to a bigger project after awhile, I’ve always been a big fan of her so it’s awesome to see her show up here in a small role as the loving local trying to support her family on the hectic day and night. Patrick Dempsey steps out of his comfort zone and he does something completely different than you are used to seeing from him. Most people still think of him from Grey’s Anatomy or his earlier romantic comedies but he shows his acting range in Thanksgiving. He goes for more of an action type of character and the possible hero to all this mayhem. Roth loves to put actors from some of his favorites in his features with a cameo and smaller role. Thanksgiving is no different which includes Lynne Griffin from Black Christmas and Curtains. There’s never a dull moment here, the suspense and twists keep you on your toes. The finale has that familiar vibe from the earlier efforts from the 80’s slashers which is great. I’ve always digged that type of set up. This is one of my favorite horror movies of last year. If you haven’t seen it yet, make sure you check it out because it delivers. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! 
Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Sony Pictures! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks amazing on blu ray. The production design is top notch, slick cinematography, and high quality gory special fx shine here. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French (Canada): DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 on the disc. All of the dialogue is very clean, the madness is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. 
Let’s talk about the special features from Sony Pictures! It has an “Audio Commentary” with director Eli Roth and co-writer Jeff Rendell. They filmed this track before the actual film was released so they weren’t sure how it was going to do when it hit theaters. They chat about coming up with this concept when they were younger. They bring up some of their earlier influences for Thanksgiving. They talk about the original Grindhouse trailer and finally putting this together as a full length feature. They chat about the cast, the characters, locations, kills, and all the visuals. They have some good stories about the past and making this one together. The two long time friends have good chemistry and this audio track is lots of fun. “Behind the Screams” is almost 4 minutes. The creative team chats about always wanting to do an holiday slasher for Thanksgiving. They talk about the origins of making this. It has some nice behind the scenes footage. It has a few interviews with the cast and crew here. “Gore Galore” is a little over 3 minutes. It focuses on the kills, gore, and special fx in this. It’s a cool quick inside look into what went down for fx side of the production. It has some behind the scenes footage. It has interviews with the cast and crew about brutal work done in Thanksgiving. “Outtakes” is a little over 5 minutes. “Deleted, Alternate, and Extended Scenes” is a little over 34 minutes. It has 14 different scenes here. It’s cool to see some stuff that didn’t make the final cut in this. A few of them I think should have been left in but I understand they have keep that flow and certain running times for a better theatrical push. I would like to see Eli do an extended version someday with some of this material. It has the 12 minute “Massachusetts Movies” from Eli and Jeff’s earlier work when they younger. It has 5 different archival clips from their films from back in the day. It has an optional “Audio Commentary” with both Eli Roth and Jeff Rendell here. It has some “Trailers” from Sony Pictures. It also comes with a slipcover and a digital code. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!! 
