Thanksgiving is the latest horror film from the mind of Eli Roth – a film that started as a spoof trailer Roth made for 2007’s Grindhouse.

Set in Plymouth Massachusetts, the film opens with Black Friday sale at a superstore that turns violent and deadly. One year later, nobody faced consequences from the chaos that night. With no justice in sight, a killer known as John Carver decides to get revenge on the people he feels are responsible for the deadly Black Friday massacre. Some of the victims are people shown in a viral cell phone video from that night. The main victims John Carver wants at the end of his blade are Jessica (Nell Verlaque), her friends, and family.

Thanksgiving is a slasher film that leaves breadcrumbs for the audience to figure out who’s behind the John Carver mask. While following the breadcrumbs you get to watch the killer get his revenge in the most brutal ways possible. It’s the perfect formula for a slasher film.

The film is ridiculous and brutal in the best ways. Carver is a diabolical villain; he serves up some of the most interesting kills in horror over the past few years. Some kills are laugh out loud funny while others will remind you of the ghoulish gore in Hostel – the film that made Eli Roth a household name. There’s an oven scene that’s so cruel and evil. The brutality in the scene is how it lingers long enough to make audiences uncomfortable.

Roth never tries to make the film overly complicated or “elevated horror”. Outside of Roth holding a mirror up to audiences showing how ridiculous consumerism is, the film is a slasher that’s brutal in its delivery of slashes and laughs. The people being hunted are unlikeable characters and obnoxious teenagers so it’s easy to watch them get picked off one-by-one.

Even when there isn’t blood splattering kills, Roth delivers some very good tension. The mannequin heads scene as well as the school sequence are very well done. The film has a nice balance of tension, gore, and campiness.

Thanksgiving is one of the best horror offerings of the year. It’s a chaotic killing spree from beginning to end. The film knows exactly what it is and gives horror fans exactly the perfect gift for the holidays.

Grade: B+