I watched the trailer for this upcoming release again today and I find myself in an internal debate. I think I would like to see this film but I'm fighting with my own past experiences. THANKSGIVING (2023) was made by Eli Roth and that is usually enough information to tell me that I will be wasting my time and money. I have despised every film I have seen that he has directed. The last time I gave him the benefit of the doubt was with THE GREEN INFERNO (2013) and it was hot garbage. So, for the last decade I have stayed away from his work knowing that he is a filmmaker whose sensibilities are not in synch with mine and, frankly, his talents are subpar. The vibe I get from his movies is of a smarmy, self-satisfied frat-bro who has been told that his dumbest ideas are brilliant. Over the past few years I've noticed him trying to present himself as a knowledgeable fan by producing and hosting a documentary series that focuses on the history of the horror genre, but he isn't fooling me. I saw no creative growth across the four films I watched so I doubt his love of the genre will ever translate into a quality effort for the big screen. But the trailer he made for GRINDHOUSE (2007) that serves as the inspiration for this new film was the best thing I ever saw from him. At the time I assumed it was because it was only a few minutes long so his clumsy and idiotic scriptwriting didn't have time to become embarrassing. In a fake trailer you don't have to demonstrate an ability to plot, build characters or craft believable actions for those characters to take. So I suspect that a movie that runs an hour and forty-five minutes will bring Roth back to the usual sloppy writing that made his name famous before. I also fear that he will dive deeply into the more stupid end of his shallow idea pool thinking that these crappy elements can be presented as a knowing wink to horror fans. I can feel the dread rising as I type this.
But - I still kind of want to see the film. Damn! Was a decade without the pain of an Eli Roth film long enough to make me forget how bad his work is?
I have a problem.
1 comment:
Someone on Facebook recently mentioned a similar thought regarding THANKSGIVING(the movie)in saying that this film is coming too late 16 years after the critical success of its GRINDHOUSE faux trailer(which was more twisted and insane than the new trailer[for the film version]),as you also use the terms "smarmy","self satisfied","frat bro","no creative growth","shill","mark"(the wrestling world's term for "fanboy"),and "subpar" for the Harry Knowles inspired modern horror/genre news sites(with their Knowles inspired journalists and film critics[as well as website and magazine editors]),the modern Knowles inspired modern genre fans,and the genre filmmakers of the last 20-to-30 years who all give people like Eli Roth an easy pass,as it will be interesting upon THANKSGIVING's theatrical staying power(and fandom response) and if the likes of both Rob Zombie's WEREWOLF WOMEN OF THE SS and Edgar Wright's DON'T ! will be made to become full length features and the fandom world's responses to them.
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