As a Nightmare Fuel page, all spoilers are unmarked as per wiki policy. You Have Been Warned!
In Grindhouse, Eli Roth pulled out all of the stops to make his trailer for Thanksgiving (2007) as absurd and over-the-top as possible; crossing the line twice, Sex Signals Death, decapitations galore, and the killer doing the dirty with a turkey.
But come Thanksgiving (2023), he pulled out all of the stops to make the movie as disturbing as possible with a much more serious tone; which includes a genuine tragedy that sparks the plot, deaths that are Played for Horror, and the Carver being a very unique slasher villain. Err on the side of caution going forward, there will be no leftovers.
- The Black Friday riot at RightMart, the very event that kickstarts the plot:
- Seeing the crowd swarm at the front of the store is a very distressing scene, due to the tension brewing within the crowd.
- When Jessica and her friends enter the store via an employee's entrance, this in turn riles up the customers outside. Evan is not helping matters by making a mockery of Lonnie, a jock from a rival school, which in turn agitates everyone.
- Then Lonnie grabs the megaphone and announces the store is open, which sends the crowd rushing to the locked doors. Their force starts cracking the glass, knocks them down, and the powder keg blows. The mob swarms through the gates, resulting in one security guard being trampled to death, one shopper slashing his jugular vein on a shard of glass, and the whole scene being pure barbarism. Amanda gets the worst of it all. She gets knocked to the floor, gets her hair tangled in a cart's wheels, and the sheer force results in her being partially scalped. And the worst part of all of this? No supernatural or far-fetched elements. This isn't too far off from reality.
- The only thing that saves this scene though from being too horrifying is that even though it is not that far fetched from reality and is quite serious in itself, it is still fictitious and is still in a horror comedy.
- Evan's upload is nothing short of disgusting. Just the fact that someone uploaded the carnage to Vidz2Stream while only caring about clout and internet fame and not giving a damn about the welfare of the victims or their relatives, can also invoke real-world fears of content creators uploading tragedies online while disrespecting the victims.
- In true Eli Roth fashion, the deaths here are no picnic, despite a majority of them being Asshole Victims.
- Lizzie is the first one to go, and boy howdy does her death set up the tone of everything. When closing the diner, she is ambushed by the Carver. He then forces her head into the dishwashing sink, then slams her on an open freezer door. While she does escape him, she has to pry her face and fingers off the door, leaving behind frozen flesh stuck on the door. While she escapes the diner's premises, the Carver got to her car first, and she's done in by being sliced in half by a slammed dumpster lid.
- While being cut in half by a dumpster lid that easily is a bit far-fetched, what if it was rigged beforehand?
- Manny is next to go. With the report of Lizzie's death, Manny decides to throw his arms up and and flee for a vacation in the Dominican Republic. He doesn't even get far as the Carver snatches his passport, and at the right opportunity, stabs him with an electric carver, then cleanly decapitates him with piano wire.
- With two people at the table, Lonnie and Amy are the next to be targeted. Lonnie gets off easy, with a Neck Snap, if still brutal due to his head being twisted a full 180 degrees. But Amy, her's is a violent end. She's Impaled with Extreme Prejudice, feet first. It's not the Groin Attack from the fake trailer, but it's still painful to watch.
- When Kathleen tries to escape, it's revealed Amy is still alive, wrapped in plastic bagging inside a wine refrigerator. All of this, to make her blood the "wine" of the Carver's dinner.
- Whoo boy, Yulia's death is this and them some. After Jessica's close call with the Carver, Yulia's father decides to go to Florida with his daughter for her safety. But before they can leave, her father and another cop are tranqed by the Carver, who uses two corncob holders to pierce Yulia's ears, leaving her temporarily deaf.
- When Jessica and Scuba arrive at their household, the Carver takes Yulia hostage with a knife and shows everyone that Evan and his girlfriend are at the table, Bound and Gagged. While Scuba gains the willpower to shoot the Carver, the safety is on, and the Carver activates the buzzsaw and throws Yulia, resulting in her fingers being sliced off and eviscerating her.
- Scuba's reaction is also this due to how distressingly realistic it is. He just simply, holds Yulia's body in a completely catatonic state, asking Jessica what they can do. It's an accurate response for a teenager when exposed to these types of horrific circumstances.
Scuba (near-catatonic): "What do I- what do I do Jess? Jess, what do I do?"- Kathleen's death might probably be the worst in terms of how drawn out it is. After the parade fiasco, the Carver prepares his Thanksgiving dinner, with Kathleen being the turkey. While she does evade him for most of the time, she doesn't even get far before getting a pitchfork javelin-throwed into her back. He drags her back into the house, and some heating elements turning on reveal he trapped her in an industrial oven, roasting her alive. He even teases her by opening the oven door, as if reconsidering, only to stab her with a thermometer and then leave her to her fate. No one deserves to go out like that.
- And finally, Evan gets his just dues at the table. Taking a particular hatred with him for uploading the video in the first place, the Carver forces Evan's head on the table, and grabs a meat tenderizer. Despite everyone's protests, the Carver mercilessly tenderizes Evan's head, reducing it to a mushy, pulpy mess. While no tears will be shed for him, it's still a very gruesome death regardless.
- Not helping at all is when his death is shown on livestream, the screen is flooded with likes. Yeesh...
- Lizzie is the first one to go, and boy howdy does her death set up the tone of everything. When closing the diner, she is ambushed by the Carver. He then forces her head into the dishwashing sink, then slams her on an open freezer door. While she does escape him, she has to pry her face and fingers off the door, leaving behind frozen flesh stuck on the door. While she escapes the diner's premises, the Carver got to her car first, and she's done in by being sliced in half by a slammed dumpster lid.
- The Thanksgiving Parade. If you've watched the fake trailer, you know what will happen. But if you haven't, you naturally get the feeling that something will happen.
- The entire atmosphere is juxtaposition incarnate. Jessica is very tense throughout the scene despite the cheery and peppy atmosphere, as there are a lot of people wearing John Carver masks, with some even wearing attire that could match the Carver.
- The death of Lionel, the boy in the turkey mascot. He was doing his routine as normal, then the Carver strikes by lopping off his head with an axe, in broad daylight. And seen by children. And all because he just so happened to be there during the RightMart Riot, as seen in the security camera photos Jessica and Bobby show Newlon.
- The chaos that ensues. In particular, the old man driving the RightMart float with the Mayflower gets his head brutally pierced by the boat's bowsprit by complete accident - and it happens in front of his granddaughters. Could also count as a Tear Jerker.
- Just how easily the Carver dances around any police attempt to catch him: assign police protection to his targets, he'll introduce them to his tranq gun; swarm the parade with officers on the lookout for him, he'll wear a different costume and bring flashbangs; the police are honing in on his phone signal, turns out it's recording a projection. John Carver might go down in horror history as one of the smartest slasher villains to exist. The only reason he loses is because McCarty gave Jessica the ring with a hidden blade inside at the very last minute before the parade. Without that little detail, John's dinner would have gone off without a hitch.
♪ My needs are small, I buy 'em all at the five and ten cent store. Oh, I've got plenty to be thankful for to be thankful for! ♪
