Thanksgiving (4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook Review)
Depending on your tastes you either love or hate Eli Roth films. He’s made some that have held up well. Horror fans love Hostel. He’s also delivered a very underrated family film with The House With the Clock In Its Walls. There are some questionable movies there too. An unnecessary remake, Death Wish (I liked it but I know it’s not very good) and a recent video game adaptation, Borderlands, which for better or worse was an immediate failure. Before this, we got Thanksgiving, which was equal parts scary and funny and now celebrates it’s first year since release with a new 4K UHD Blu-ray, which comes in a great new steelbook! Fans will know all about the film, but for those new to it, read on below!
Film: 
Thanksgiving is a blood-splattered tribute to classic holiday horror, directed by Eli Roth, whose knack for suspense and gore is on full display in this seasonal slasher. The film takes the well-trodden holiday horror route but brings with it a fresh, darkly comedic edge and a small-town setting that captures the eerie charm of a quiet New England town disrupted by a brutal killer.
The story revolves around the fallout of a chaotic Black Friday riot that leaves a lasting trauma on the town’s residents. Not long after, a masked killer—dressed in Puritan garb—begins to dispatch locals in increasingly creative and stomach-turning ways, each murder tied to Thanksgiving themes. The killer’s identity remains a mystery throughout, and the film keeps viewers on their toes with well-placed red herrings and escalating tension.
One of Thanksgiving‘s strengths is its unabashed homage to 1980s slasher tropes. Roth doesn’t hold back on the gore or the inventive kills, which range from grotesque to laugh-out-loud shocking. He also adds a level of self-awareness and satire, poking fun at some of the genre’s cliches while fully embracing others. Yet, the film isn’t just a bloodbath; it injects moments of dark humor and has a decent mix of suspense, giving audiences just enough breathing room between scares.
The cast delivers solid performances that make the characters feel more than just cannon fodder, with standout roles from the lead teens and town locals who are fleshed out just enough to make you care about their fate. The cinematography and production design contribute to the chilling, atmospheric New England town setting, giving Thanksgiving the look and feel of an old-school horror film but with modern polish.
While the film won’t be for everyone—especially those who shy away from gore—Thanksgiving serves up exactly what it promises: a macabre holiday feast with thrills, chills, and pitch-black humor. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s well-executed and a fun, if grisly, addition to holiday horror. Roth’s love for the genre is evident in every frame, making it a must-watch for slasher fans who enjoy a slice of dark humor with their holiday terror.
Video:
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Layers: BD-66
HDR: Dolby Vision
Clarity/Detail: Don’t worry about a turkey of a 4K release here (ha-ha-ha!) – Thanksgiving looks excellent on the format! Every shadow, blood splatter, open wound and more all pop in UHD and look exceptional from the first moment to the credits!
Depth: Despite taking place in a variety of interior and exterior locations, the lensing of the film looks consistent throughout with no issues with focus or foreground/background textures. Everything is exactly as it should be!
Black Levels: In the darkness, shadows and dark corners never get lost in crush, and black clothing also benefits.
Color Reproduction: Autumnal colors clash with blood and gore and what a sight to see! Thanks to the sheen of Dolby Vision, the color spectrum is wider and breathes more life into the film.
Flesh Tones: Unless the characters are covered in blood, the flesh tones are natural and neat all around.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio:
Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible), English, French and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Dynamics: Modern sound mixes are always a great way to get into the films we watch. For older films, this can be good or bad, but for new films like Thanksgiving, big is better. Filled with jump scare moments, panicked crowd noise and the eerie silence of an uncomfortable moment, Thanksgiving takes big axe swings in Dolby Atmos.
Height: Acting mostly as surround extension, the atmospherics of the height channels nonetheless reveal more nuance to the mix, with the fearful nature of the film playing out from above just as much as the lower surrounds give us reason to feel uneasy.
Low-Frequency Extension: Bass goes hard for music and some gruesome kills too.
Surround Sound Presentation: Surround channels give us angry mobs, brutal kills and ambience to sit immersed in.
Dialogue Reproduction: Lines are delivered with excellent clarity, and nothing is hard to hear.
Extras:
Features for Thanksgiving are either archival material from the Blu-ray that came out in January or are new to this release. Another treat is a letter from Eli Roth that’s included inside the steelbook alongside the film’s digital code. We also get to enjoy a new On-Set Making-Of done by the cast!
NEW: Letter From Eli Roth
NEW: Behead-the-Scenes Featurettes – an intimate, must-see look at the making of this new horror classic, as shot on-set by the cast!
NEW: Carve Diem
NEW: Giving Shanks
Theatrical Trailer
BLU-RAY DISC™ Special Features:
Commentary with Eli Roth and Jeff Rendell
Deleted & Extended Scenes
Outtakes
Massachusetts Movies: Eli & Jeff’s Early Films
Behind the Screams
Gore Galore
Summary:
Thanksgiving is equal parts slasher homage and slasher parody. It’s funny, gory, gross and totally entertaining. Say what you will about Eli Roth, but when he’s good, he’s very good. The film is a great one to add to other Thanksgiving favorites, albeit not something you’ll want to show your grandma. The film takes big wide swings and while not everything works perfectly, it’s still a fun time getting scared, grossed out or laughing. Worth a look for newbies, and the 4K disc is of course, excellent! Happy Shanksgiving!
