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We may be sitting on the wrong side of the calendar year for a Thanksgiving treat, but there’s never a bad time to order some turkey and stuffing… with a delectable side dish of blood-drenched horror, of course! In fact, audiences around the globe wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment, as Eli Roth’s smalltown slasher Thanksgiving is proving to be rather popular right now.
Eli Roth’s Acclaimed Slasher Is Killing It
According to streaming aggregator FlixPatrol, the 2023 gorefest is trending hard, as reflected by its streaming performance around the world. Weirdly enough, Thanksgiving has nabbed the sixth spot in 19 countries on HBO, including Argentina, Mexico, and Peru. That’s a whole lot of sixes, huh? Don’t they say that that’s the number of the beast? Okay, I digress!
Meanwhile, the violent thriller has also managed to nab the third spot on HBO in Brazil and top 10 spots on Google TV in Greece, Slovenia, and Spain. The icing on the blood-splattered cake? All those watching hours have helped contribute to the slasher flick snagging the tenth spot in HBO’s global top 10 charts. Pretty laudable, no?
From the mind of horror auteur Eli Roth, who is best-known for genre classics like 2002’s Cabin Fever and 2005’s Hostel, Thanksgiving boasts quite an interesting trajectory to market. See, thanks to Roth’s friendship with Hollywood legend Quentin Tarantino, the 51-year-old writer-director managed to wangle a faux trailer into 2007’s double-feature Grindhouse. Ostensibly, the intention of Thanksgiving‘s fake trailer was meant to be merely an amusing, throwaway joke. Fast forward to today, however, and it’s now a full-blown feature written and directed by Roth.
Critics Thought It Was a Surefire Hit
Interestingly, critics absolutely loved Thanksgiving. Over on Rotten Tomatoes, the grisly chiller holds an impressive 84% critical rating and a rock-solid 79% audience rating. In fact, our very own Tristyn Akbas reviewed it last year and absolutely loved it, awarding it an 8.5 out of 10, concluding:
Thanksgiving is, without a doubt, one of the best horror movies of 2023, and horror fans will be missing out if they don’t see this in the most atmospheric theater possible. It would also make for a good date movie, just make sure you go out for dinner after the movie, rather than before, if you have a weak stomach!
Set in the rural town of Plymouth, the horror flick centers on a string of brutal murders perpetrated by a maniac donning a John Carver mask. Scream 3‘s Patrick Dempsey is arguably the most familiar actor on the docket. Though, American crooner Addison Rae delivers a solid performance as well.
Overall, Thanksgiving is easily one of the horror highlights from last year. And it’s absolutely worth inviting some friends over for a creepy night in. Just don’t forget to bring the cranberry sauce!
