Thanksgiving Trailer: Eli Roth Slasher Movie Is Based On A Trailer & Now It Has One

The trailer for Thanksgiving unveils Eli Roth’s vision for a full movie based on the concept. Thanksgiving, which premieres in theaters on November 17, is a feature-length adaptation of a slasher parody trailer that Roth contributed to the 2007 throwback double feature Grindhouse, which packaged Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof and Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror with fake retro trailers. “Thanksgiving” promised an early-1980s style slasher movie that is now being brought to life with a cast that includes Patrick Dempsey, Milo Manheim, Gina Gershon, and TikTok star Addison Rae.

The official trailer for Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving has now been released exclusively by Rotten Tomatoes. Check it out below:

The trailer sets the scene for the holiday, showcasing a happy small town while a character monologues about the meaning of Thanksgiving. However, the holiday tranquility is quickly shattered when a killer in a Pilgrim costume arrives to mow down the cast with a variety of sharp implements.

How Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving Trailer Compares to the Original Grindhouse Parody

There are definite similarities between the new trailer and the original Grindhouse parody trailer. This includes a person in a turkey costume walking in a Thanksgiving parade and, of course, the axe-wielding Pilgrim killer. The new trailer also features a reinterpretation of the scene where a young woman bounces on a trampoline before her untimely demise.

However, one major difference is the time period that each trailer is evoking. The original trailer was made to look as though it was a relic from the 1980s, with period-appropriate narration and a scratchy shot-on-film aesthetic. The new movie seems to be designed to appeal more to contemporary sensibilities, with much slicker cinematography. While it’s unclear if the movie is set in the present day, the bulk of the original retro signifiers are nonetheless missing.

As such, it seems that the new Thanksgiving isn’t entirely delivering on the promise of the original trailer. Instead, it’s an extrapolation of what the type of movie promised by that trailer might look like if it was made in the modern age. However, given Roth’s penchant for modernizing retro genres like he did with throwback pastiche cannibal movie The Green Inferno, it seems likely that the movie will still contain several satisfying treats for lovers of more retro horror.