Starring Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae

Directed by Eli Roth

Sony, in cinemas now

A stampede at a Black Friday sale sparks a series of gruesome murders in a New England town.

I love a bit of slash and splatter as much as the next popcorn-chomper. In fact, given my undying adulation for the Chucky TV series, some might assume I love it more than most. Well, up to a point, Lord Chainsaw. What makes Chucky so charming and deliciously enjoyable is that it constantly plays with our expectations. Chucky creator Don Mancini uses his franchise to explore issues of gender, sexuality and hypocrisy, and no drop of fake blood is spilled without an equal measure of wit and intelligence to go with it.

To this end, the set-up of Eli Roth’s latest splatterfest had me grinning with anticipation. It’s Thanksgiving in the Massachusetts town of Plymouth, whose history is core to the foundation story of modern America itself, being the place where the Pilgrim Fathers first set up camp, and the site of the first ever Thanksgiving feast. Everyone is settling down to their turkey dinners, not least the owner of the local department store, whose shop is ready to open at midnight with hundreds crushed up against the barriers hopeful of a cheap waffle iron to see in the Black Friday sale bonanza. Of course, such is the greed of the discount hungry shoppers that the stampede gets out of control, leading to a hilariously bloody massacre. So far, so delightfully satirical.

Sadly, that’s about as far as the delight goes. Instead of running with these themes, once the opening credits have rolled, what we’re left with is a mediocre, and really rather dull teen slasher peopled by leaden characters, played, I’m afraid, by leaden actors. Yes, there are one or two enjoyable set pieces – culminating in the turkey’s revenge – but Roth and his writer Jeff Rendell don’t seem to be able to decide whose story they’re telling. It flits from indistinct character to indistinct character and the resolution is predictably Scooby-Doo, but not in a good way.

Review: After a great start, Thanksgiving is a real disappointment. If intermittent gore is enough for you, it might keep you entertained, but splatter is best when it has something to say, and sadly this bloody spurter runs out of meaningful conversation after the first ten minutes. 5/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com