Horror fans were treated with a new slasher movie to dive into and potentially tear apart. Seeing as the horror genre has a history of seeing low critic ratings, fans were waiting to see if “Thanksgiving” would be another instance of this. Yet, thanks to several factors, this movie manages to tell an entertaining story in a genre filled with classics.
Based in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the film centers around Jessica Wright, played by Nell Verlaque, and her group of friends sneaking into her father’s warehouse the night before Black Friday. In search of a new phone for one of her friends, the sight of them in the store angers the crowd of people waiting outside, and the taunting by the group agitates the crowd into a riot. They storm the store after a swift prompt from a crowd member and what results is a fairly gory pile up of Black Friday madness.
A year passes after the graphic scenes and it follows back up with Jessica in the aftermath of last Thanksgiving. We are introduced to a few characters and pretty soon we are also introduced to the antagonist of this film. His motives are also introduced quite quickly as having a connection to those involved in the riot last year.
Yet his identity is hidden by a John Carver mask and a quite appropriate pilgrim hat. With his motives set, he sets out to hunt many people seen in the video of the riot that went viral. This includes Jessica and her friends and sets in motion an intensely gory thriller that is sure to have audiences wincing at every detail.
While the acting is fairly good and features several great performances from actors – such as Rick Hoffman, Patrick Dempsey and Addison Rae – what stands out the most in this film are the visuals. It’s made quite apparent just how much attention to detail went into this film from the beginning. The riot captured some graphically gripping scenes of greed and a few deaths in the store show how much effort went into effects for this movie.
This effort is consistently shown throughout the film and it plays a role in just how the audience reacts. “Thanksgiving” relies a little less on the jumpscares and a little more on the details. It tells a fairly interesting story with some good acting and is accompanied by spine-chilling visuals.
Overall, “Thanksgiving” is a fairly good horror movie in a genre that has plenty of stand-out figures. It is a pretty gory horror movie and has plenty of graphic scenes, so viewer discretion is advised before you watch this movie. But as a fan of horror as a genre, I would recommend this movie.
