Thanksgiving Movie

After promising us back in 2007 that “white meat … dark meat … all will be carved, this Thanksgiving,” Eli Roth has finally delivered on the promise of his mock trailer that played between Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s films in “Grindhouse.” The feature version was worth the wait, in particular for how the project didn’t pick up the jump-scare overzealousness of a Blumhouse movie, or the high-minded storytelling of A24-esque elevated horror, while in the oven. “Thanksgiving” is thrillingly pure in its nastiness and has more in common with ‘80s films like “Mother’s Day,” “Graduation Day,” and “New Year’s Evil” than its modern mainstream peers (the “Terrifier” blood bonanzas are an indie exception). Roth’s head-chopping whodunit doesn’t use “Grindhouse” aesthetics, but it’s a classic at heart.