Before Borderlands’ $33 Million Disaster, Eli Roth Made The Best Thanksgiving Movie Of The Past 10 Years

While there are plenty of Christmas films made for theaters and TV, when it comes to Thanksgiving, the pool is much smaller. That’s even more the case for horror films, with the most prominent one up until 2023 being the Troma movie Thankskilling. However, Hostel and Borderlands director Eli Roth decided to fill that void in 2023 by turning his spoof trailer from Grindhouse into an actualized feature film, Thanksgiving.

After a Black Friday sale leads to several civilians being injured and killed, a mysterious slasher in a pilgrim mask targets those involved in the tragedy one year later on Thanksgiving. Roth’s acclaimed $46.5 million horror movie was a surprise success and now stands to be a Thanksgiving classic for horror fans. In addition to this, Thanksgiving is also a better representation of Roth’s talents as a director than his next film, Borderlands, would be.

Why Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving Is One of the Best Thanksgiving Movies in Recent Memory

The Best Thanksgiving Movie Started As A Spoof Trailer In Tarantino & Rodriguez’s Grindhouse

Thanksgiving, one of 2023’s best horror movies, is a tried-and-true slasher film, complete with bloody, unique deaths, a memorable masked killer, campy one-liners, and a whodunit mystery perfect for the final girl to unravel. It is not reinventing the wheel, but delivering exactly what horror fans are craving this time of year. Thanksgiving also fills a void for a Thanksgiving slasher — Halloween has its icon in Michael Myers, while Christmas has a new face of horror with Art the Clown.

While Thanksgiving is more cynical and violent than other holiday films are, it is not afraid to emphasize its anti-consumerist message.

Additionally, Thanksgiving surprisingly nails it as a holiday film. From How the Grinch Stole Christmas to It’s a Wonderful Life, many successful and beloved holiday films champion the idea that material goods and money can never compete with time with loved ones. While Thanksgiving is more cynical and violent than other holiday films are, it is not afraid to emphasize its anti-consumerist message. It kicks off with a bloody Black Friday tearing families apart. Thanksgiving is about being grateful, as well as the loved ones around them, and Roth’s 2023 horror film embraces this notion.

Thanksgiving Shows How Eli Roth Can Recover After Borderlands’ Disaster

Borderlands Fails To Capture What Makes Eli Roth A Filmmaking Icon

Thanksgiving is the antithesis of Borderlands on several levels. Where Borderlands champions a star-studded cast, Thanksgiving‘s core group of teens are newcomers. Additionally, the established actors, like Patrick Dempsey, are not advertised as the main pull of the film. Where Borderlands’ budget is an estimated $100 million, Thanksgiving’s is a fraction of that, at $15 million (via The Numbers). Finally, Thanksgiving is an original idea, whereas Borderlands is an established IP.

Unsurprisingly, Roth, whose first feature film is Cabin Fever, nails it with smaller-budget, original horror films that do not rely on star power and aren’t afraid to lean into bloody practical effects. Thanksgiving reflects that talent more than Borderlands. In fact, between these two films by Roth, it’s Thanksgiving that’s already confirmed to be getting a sequel. Fans of this holiday slasher can rejoice when there are several unanswered questions for Thanksgiving 2 to answer.

Source: The Numbers