This article contains spoilers for Eli Roth’s ThanksgivingThe new film byhorrorvisionaryEli Rothsurprised the heck out of everyone when it was released during (duh) the Thanksgiving season of 2023.Thanksgivingis a modern slasher film that checks every item on the list and delivers the goods that any horror hound seeks in original films that come from any recognizable IP. The trailers made everyone excited, but it wasn’t until the film was officially released that everyone acknowledged the trust they had to deposit in a guy like Roth, whose admirable horror knowledge is often represented in his best films.Thanksgivingis, by far, one of the best horror films of 2023.
Thanksgiving
The idea for Thanksgiving began whenGrindhouse, the double B-movie feature by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, was released in 2007, and it featured fake trailers that also had the “grindhouse” style to them.MacheteandHobo with a Shotgunwere the first features to be produced, and other projects likeThanksgivingwere put in a drawer as writing and rewriting didn’t exactly get anywhere. It wasn’t until early 2023 that official production started on a dream project that fans had always entrusted Roth with. It was alwaysthe film that would give slasher fanswhat they deserved.
Read our Review for Thanksgiving
What is Thanksgiving about?
In the film, the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, is still recovering from a tragedy that befell the people standing outside a local superstore one year ago. During Thanksgiving, Rightmart is offering Black Friday deals one day earlier, and the greedy owner, Thomas Wright, and his wife, Kathleen, are oblivious to the disaster that’s about to take place. Wright’s daughter Jessica goes out after Thanksgiving dinner with her friends, who decide to use her as the “key” to enter the store earlier and purchase some products. The problem is that the situation becomes… dire. Too many customers are crammed out before the store opens. The kids are inside, as is the local sheriff, when the mass of customers breaks through the glass doors and the mayhem begins.
The result is a tragedy that wasn’t supposed to happen. No one was punished because of the deaths, and it seems the year after, the store is aiming to open again. The problem is that Plymouth starts to get terrorized by a man wearing a John Carver mask and hat, and he starts to target the teenagers that survived that night. When bodies start dropping and dinner gets literally served for everyone to see, Jessica and her friend realize they may be in more danger than they thought.
Thanksgivingisn’t exactly a modern horror classic. But the reception by fans and critics has been great, and the appraisal of the film inevitably flowed intoa sequel being announcedjust a few days after the film’s release. While we wait for more news, we decided to give it a rewatch and make a list of the film’s gruesome and awesome kills. Needless to say, this gets rough, so if you’re squeamish, you might want to take a step back and look through a peephole.
12Doug - Trampled to Death
A Black Friday to Remember
Poor Doug was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He’s one of the security guards that actually stays when the disaster’s about to burst. Right before the glass doors crack and thousands of anxious customers enter Rightmart to pick up their free waffle maker, Doug looks panicked. He doesn’t have time to announce the impending doom when the glass gives in, and he gets immediately cut.
He could have survived if those thousands of Black Friday fans had actually stopped, but that wasn’t the case. Doug succumbs to his death in minutes when the hordes stomp on him while angrily entering the store. It’s not exactly amemorable first kill, but it sets the right tone for the gore element that will follow.
11The Customer - Gashed Neck
Slashing Prices
This one is a quick death, and one of the first in the film. It takes place right as the glass doors break, and before they fall, the unlucky customer is pushed. He’s one of the first to arrive, so it means the freshly cut glass will be his cause of death. Sadly, the people push him into a glass shard, and the dude’s neck is cut. The artery that gets slashed open never gets closed, and he bleeds out while the rest engage in the battlefield. It’s a graphic surprise that confirms just what kind of filmThanksgivingactually is.
Related:Wait, Is Thanksgiving 2 Actually a Good Idea?
Don’t Get it Twisted
Lonnie is obnoxious from the very beginning. He’s one of the high school kids who’s at the very beginning of the film trying to get inside Rightmart. He’s also fought with one of Jessica’s friends, so when he sees the gang inside the store before the opening, he entices the riot and, of course, is left unharmed.
Lonnie meets his demise when he’s seduced by his girlfriend and witnesses a weird trampoline striptease. John Carver stands beside him and completely twists his neck around, leaving the skin intact and Lonnie’s face looking the other way around. During Kathleen’s botched escape scene, Lonnie’s body shows up, this time with his head in a very askew position. It proves that Carver isn’t exclusive to one weapon and will get creative. This one made audiences believea new iconic slasherwas being born.
Light Meat, Dark Meat - All Will be Carved
Lionel dies during a pivotal scene in the film. The surviving crew plans to use bait to get John Carver to show himself during the Thanksgiving parade. He does so, but they and the audience expect to see him in the John Carver costume. So when Lionel, who’s dressed as a turkey mascot, gets attacked by a man in an evil clown suit, rules are broken. Using a very sharp ax, Carver cuts Lionel’s head off and starts the chaos during the parade.
8Amanda - Death by Shock
A Shocking Death
Amanda’s death is quick in the film, which is kind of sad considering how cool Gina Gershon is. Amanda is Mitch’s wife, and Mitch is the store manager in charge of keeping everything in order during the disaster. As we already know, he fails to do so, and Amanda becomes one of the earliest victims.
When the stampede begins, she gets hit by a shopping cart and knocked to the ground. Not only that, her hair is caught in one of the wheels, and when the furious customer tries to push the cart ahead, part of her scalp comes out, leaving her skull in the open. Amanda dies of shock, apparently. It’s one of the important kills in the film because of a fact that we’ll keep to ourselves, asit holds the identity of the killer.
7Lizzie - Bisected
A Split Decision
Lizzie is one of the notorious customers who glorifies the Rightmart Black Friday massacre. She also goes unpunished, even though she may have been responsible for some of the deaths that occurred that day. Luckily, John Carver knows this and applies justice. Lizzie dies when John Carver stalks her in the café where she works during closing time.
First, her wet face gets pushed into the freezing door of a refrigerator. Her flesh comes out in a very graphic moment. But Lizzie doesn’t actually die. She’s able to leave the restaurant, but outside, the killer is behind the wheel. The car starts, and Lizzie manages to get inside a dumpster, but when the car hits the huge metal box, the lid falls, and Lizzie’s body is bisected in a gruesome death. The next day, the lower part of her body is displayed on Rightmart’s sign.
6Manny - Wire Beheading
Don’t Lose Your Head
When it comes to victims that deserve it, Manny is close to the top spot, competing against Evan. Manny is a security guard who bails before the chaos ensues in Rightmart. This means he’s one of Carver’s first victims, one year later. He’s not exactly chilling at home because he knows he could be a possible target. He grabs his passport to go on a trip.
The thing is, Carver is under his dinner table, sticks an electric knife in his stomach, and actually starts it. Not satisfied with this, Carver goes behind him, wraps a very strong wire around his neck (a toolwe’ve seen in the Japanese filmAudition), and pulls until he beheads the guy.
5Amy - Lethal Flirting
Bottoms Up!
As a character, Amy feels like collateral damage. She wasn’t supposed to die such a gruesome death. Amy is Lonnie’s girlfriend, who organizes a trampoline striptease in a deserted gymnasium. While Lonnie watches and actually gets his neck broken by Carver, Amy jumps and jumps. Higher and higher. Meanwhile, Carver gets under the tarp and slashes it with a very sharp blade every time Amy lands, making each descent a death trap.
Audiences squirmed at this moment. But Amy didn’t die there. During Kathleen’s attempt to escape, she makes a comeback when her body is stuck inside a dirty refrigerator, but she ultimately dies there. However, her last moment is during the dinner scene, when Carver uses a bottle opener on her neck to provide some drinks. This one ispure slasher bliss.
4Yulia - Deafened and Gutted
I Can’t Hear You!
Yulia’s death was not quick. But perhaps it should have been to stop the suffering. At first, she’s preparing to escape to Florida because her dad says so. After packing her bags, she’s on the phone with her boyfriend, and after cleaning her ears, Carver shows up from behind and sticks two corn skewers in her ears, leaving her deaf and in absolute pain. But curiously, she manages to escape and regroup with the other survivors. Ultimately, Carver catches up to them, throws Yulia onto a table saw, and turns it on. In the end, Yulia’s guts are all over the place.
3The Driver - A Blow to the Head
A Piercing Headache
During the parade massacre, it’s not Carver who does everything. After he beheads Lionel, people run in panic, and it causes an instant disaster on the street. An old man is driving one of the parade’s trucks with his two granddaughters, and he hits a guy on stilts. When he suddenly steps on the breaks, a ship he’s carrying with the truck turns into a death trap. One of the masts goes through the back window and also through his head, leaving his granddaughters screaming in absolute shock. It’sa very gory scenethat’s clear evidence of how gory and unrestrained Roth’s film is.
Related:15 Holiday Horror Slashers to Check Out if You Loved Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving
