Film history doesn’t have much to offer by way of Thanksgiving movies, certainly not compared to those about Halloween or Christmas. For every Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Home for the Holidays (1995), or The Ice Storm (1997), there are dozens, if not hundreds, of movies devoted to the other holidays. Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving probably won’t become a perennial classic in most households, unless it’s your family’s tradition to digest while viewing the Thanksgiving day mental patient mayhem of Blood Rage (1987) or the killer turkey horror-comedy ThanksKilling (2009). If so, then Roth’s latest is actually a perfect holiday gift. With a well-balanced blend of grisly horror and acerbic comedy, the movie follows the slasher movie whodunit template to the letter. Yet, no matter how predictable or formulaic the outcome may be, Roth’s execution is sharp and effective, delivering everything a horror fan could want from a holiday-themed slasher. What’s shocking is that it’s good, and unironically so. No matter how silly its concept—about a masked killer dressed in a John Carver pilgrim mask—the scares are scary, and the story is credibly compelling. 

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