Heya, horror lovers! Welcome back to Horror With a Side of Cheese! If you’re new here, I will quickly explain. I am on the hunt for the cheesiest horror movies in existence. After finding a new cheesy horror, I write about it on the first and third Friday of every month. I rate the films between one and five cheese slices. To determine the rating, I consider the cheesiness of the dialogue, acting, story, effects and re-watchability. Today, I bring you a holiday horror, ThanksKilling.
About ThanksKilling
A violent turkey spirit is called upon for revenge on the colonists after the first Thanksgiving. Many years later, the turkey comes back to life. It terrorizes a group of college students celebrating Thanksgiving break. The young adults must find a way to stop the fiend before it is too late.
RELATED: Horror With a Side of Cheese: Sharks of the Corn
ThanksKilling stars Natasha Cordova, Lindsey Anderson, Lance Predmore, Aaron Ringhiser-Carlson, Ryan E. Francis and Chuck Lamb, with a special appearance by Wanda Lust. Jordan Downey, Kevin Stewart, and Brad Schulz (extra dialogue) wrote the film, and Downey directed it.
Fun fact: The film was so popular it spawned two sequels. Well, there aren’t three movies. In our reality, there is the original and ThanksKilling 3. The plot of the latter is everyone’s favorite perverted poultry looking for the last remaining copy of the fictitious ThanksKilling 2. Turkie will stop at nothing to prevent anyone from laying eyes on that movie. Also, it takes place in space.
This film does not have a Tomatometer Score; however, it does have an Audience Score of 42 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Trigger Warning
Multiple parts of this movie likely need a trigger warning, but I will stick with one of the worst. A scene depicts Turkie committing SA against a woman before killing her. To say this scene is disturbing would be a grievous understatement.
RELATED: Underrated Horror Movie of the Month: Dead Silence
My Thoughts
I do not think there are words in the English language to describe ThanksKilling accurately. It is one of those films not intended to be taken seriously, but at the same time, it tries to be epic. I’m not sure much information one needs beyond the fact that the killer is a vulgar, loudmouth turkey. While the film does have a high level of cheesiness in some aspects, I cannot give this film a high rating.
The story, if you can call it that, is my biggest problem with the movie. While I believe the writers had good intentions, the execution fell short. Several moments felt offensive, which detracted from the overall experience. Without a doubt, the story is the least cheesy part of this film.
RELATED: Every Friday the 13th Movie, Ranked
On to the dialogue. I estimate that 40 percent of the cheesiness in ThanksKilling comes from the dialogue. There are many unique quotes, to put it nicely. For example, the first time viewers see Turkie, he pops up and says, “nice tits,” before using an ax to slay his victim. During the SA scene, he says, “you’ve been stuffed,” before killing her. The list is long and extensive.
The acting makes up about 30 percent of the cheesiness. It is overdone, ridiculous and creepy at times. The actors deliver every line with too much emphasis, and every motion is too broad. It made me laugh more than once.
One of the most intriguing parts of ThanksKilling is the effects. They make up the remaining 30 percent of the cheesiness factor. In most, if not all, scenes, the turkey is a plastic puppet. At one point, the team placed a clip art-prepared turkey into the shot. The best-looking, most realistic effect happens during a kill scene shortly after the clip art appears.
Finally, re-watchability. I will not, under any circumstances, watch this film again. While there were some majorly cheesy moments, the overall experience is not worth going through again. I am giving ThanksKilling one cheese slice, and I think that is being generous.
RELATED: Browse our Underrated Horror Movie of the Month archives!
That’s all I have to say about this movie; there are no more words. I will now indulge in another cup of coffee and try to forget watching this atrocity.
Before you go, let me know what you think of the movie. Also, if you think there’s a cheesy horror I need to watch, leave the title in the comments!
Until next time, stay spooky, stay cheesy and, most importantly, watch more horror movies.
- Underrated Horror Movie of the Month: CUBE - May 30, 2023
- Predictions for the End of FROM Season 2 - May 24, 2023
- GGA’s Favorite Scream Queens - May 23, 2023
