When it comes to horror and holidays, Thanksgiving isn’t the first one that comes to mind. Nestled after Halloween and before Christmas, this uniquely North American holiday has a handful of films that combine terror and tryptophan. It’s interesting that this particular holiday hasn’t been the subject of more horror films, as the history and reason for the celebration are marred with inaccuracies, not to mention that the pilgrims themselves were religious extremists who were so maligned by their beliefs they fled their country. I mean, the horror stories basically write themselves, but I digress. Most folks don’t think about the macabre having a seat at the same table as mashed potatoes, but that doesn’t stop filmmakers from tempting to deliver films of a veritable cornucopia of quality. SCREAMTEAM RELEASING has another challenger to enter the gravy-soaked arena with THE LAST THANKSGIVING. Is this cranberry-sauced slasher a home-cooked home run or will it be mostly old leftovers?

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Meet the Brimstons. They're a normal American family. They have normal jobs. Live normal lives. Except, every November, they hunt down anybody who doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving. When Derry's Restaurant stays open for the holiday, the Brimstons begin to terrorize the staff and patrons. Who will survive? And what will be left for DINNER?!

HOW IS IT?

Okay, I promise to drop the Thanksgiving food puns as I think it was getting a bit out of hand at the start. That said, I went into THE LAST THANKSGIVING really rooting for it. While I still think not enough is done with the Easter holiday, Thanksgiving has a lot of iconographies that suit the camp and creative aspects of holiday horror. As is the case though with so many films, THE LAST THANKSGIVING is trying to do way too much for any of it to be considered effective. It’s not a bad movie by any stretch, and at 72 minutes it doesn’t linger more than it must, but the lack of focus makes for some missed opportunities.

THE LAST THANKSGIVING is kind of like what would happen if the Sawyer Family were Thanksgiving fanatics, which is an interesting premise if nothing else. The concept here is that this family of cannibals find people who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving and “make them thankful” in various dastardly ways. The targets for this film are the employees and sole patron of Derry’s Diner, who represent a wacky grab bag of eccentric characters you might find in a diner. As things go, this family of cannibals descends on the diner-folk to which havoc ensues. The whole plot is pretty basic, and it gets overcomplicated with trying to deepen the mythology and why behind the family’s murderous merrymaking. The problem is, the depth of insanity required to have an entire family devoted to killing people on Thanksgiving requires the actors to sell that to the point that it can’t be questioned. For the most part, the absurdity of the premise doesn’t really deliver until the very end. Up until that point, the attempts to explain things better left without getting in the way of what could’ve been a more exciting and efficient story.

Credit where it is due though, as THE LAST THANKSGIVING certainly delivers in the gore department. The kills for the most part are pretty interesting and well-executed given the film's independent production, and the makeup effects work quite well all things considered. That’s important since there are some pretty decent slasher-style scenes sprinkled throughout the film. For the most part, the beats are similar to Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 just without the eccentricity of the antagonists. It really is a shame since the premise is just weird enough where some better direction of the actors and more investment in them being unhinged would have elevated this in every way. It’s a movie that dabbles in good ideas only to end up being unintentionally forgettable.

HOW DOES IT LOOK?

SCREAMTEAM RELEASING is a small label and as such, there isn’t much in the way of A/V upscaling and restoring, nor is it needed considering how new the film is. THE LAST THANKSGIVING is presented in 16:9 widescreen format and looks crisp and clear in its presentation. Screenshots from the release are used below and throughout the review:

HOW DOES IT SOUND?

Much like the video, the audio here is nothing to write home about. PCM Stereo audio is what we are working with and that’s just fine for a release like this. I do wish, again, that labels of all sizes would include subtitles. It’s a great way to make your film more accessible and in turn, reach a wider audience.

ANYTHING SPECIAL?

There is an impressive amount of bonus material for this release, so if you really enjoyed the film there is a lot to dive into. One of the stand outs is a feature-length documentary on the making of THE LAST THANKSGIVING. While I didn’t watch it for this review, after seeing some of the other special features I may circle back around to the documentary since the cast and crew seem like endearing folks. One feature that really surprised me was the short-film Thanksgiving 1978, which is the short that inspired this featurel-length film. Clocking in at just about 6 minutes, this was a highly entertaining short that was more slasher than the longer version turned out to be. There were some genuinely funny characters and I liked the overall feel of the short more than I did the next iteration. None the less, it’s a short that is certainly worth watching whether you liked the movie or not.

On Talking Turkey: Late Night Discussion we get a candid 15-minute informal cast and crew interview done at the production offices. We hear from various folks involved including director ERICK LORINC, product ANISSA OMRAN, and more about a wide-range of topics. It’s almost as if you’re a fly on the wall eavesdropping on a group of friends as they around the office sharing their favorite scenes, characters, Thanksgiving traditions, and debate the definition of “Thanksgiving Pants”. It’s nice to see these kinds of BTS featurettes where you get a sense of how people really are and not the camera-ready version when doing things like press tours. A full list of special features on this disc can be found below:

BONUS MATERIALS

Commentary
The Long Pilgrimage: Making of Featurette
Thanksgiving 1978 (Short Film)
Talking Turkey: Late Night Discussion
Photo Gallery
Gag Reel
Auditions
Trailers

LAST RITES

THE LAST THANKSGIVING is better than most Thanksgiving slashers, even if it doesn’t get as unhinged as it should to deliver maximum effect. For fans of holiday horror who don’t have a lot of Thanksgiving titles this one should be considered for your collections, all others, the mileage may vary.

THE GORY DETAILS

Thank you to MVD ENTERTAINMENT for the review copy for the crypt! You can purchase the film via MVD DIRECT.

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Nov 4, 2020

Matthew Orozco