Eli Roth brings horror home for the holidays in Thanksgiving trailer

The Hostel director's new shocker was born back in 2007 as a fake trailer included in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse double feature.

Hostel director Eli Roth just unleashed the trailer for his horror movie Thanksgiving and it's fair to say that this is not what the Pilgrims had in mind when they carved their first turkey.

Thanksgiving began life as a fake trailer included in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's 2007 double bill Grindhouse. The clip promoted an imaginary slasher film which appeared to serve up beheadings aplenty. As the voiceover teased: "From director Eli Roth: Thanksgiving. You'll come home from the holidays... in a body bag!"

Rodriguez, Edgar Wright, and Rob Zombie also contributed fake trailers for the project. "Quentin was like, 'We're doing this thing called Grindhouse,'" Roth once told EW. "'There are going to be two 60-minute movies. We want some fake trailers, and we want you guys to each do one.' We were like, 'F--- yeah!'"

Rodriguez turned his clip — for an action film called Machete — into an actual feature in 2010. Roth has long talked about making a real Thanksgiving movie.

Thanksgiving movie poster
'Thanksgiving' poster. Spyglass

In February of this year, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Patrick Dempsey was in talks to star as a sheriff in the film, which was set to start shooting in Toronto the next month. Dempsey's costars include TikTok celebrity and He's All That star Addison Rae.

Roth has also directed Cabin Fever, The Green Inferno, the 2018 Death Wish remake, The House With a Clock in Its Walls, and the upcoming Borderlands.

Thanksgiving is released in theaters in, yes, November. Watch the film's trailer above.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

Related Articles