Eli Roth Confirms Thanksgiving | Blood in the Mashed Potatoes

Blood in the Mashed Potatoes

By Steven Lloyd Wilson | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (12)

Remember the fake trailers from Grindhouse? You know, one of which is getting made into Machete? Well Eli Roth figured, why waste the original idea he had for his fake trailer of Thanksgiving, and just make it into a real movie too?

Said the Bear Jew to Cinema Blend:

I’ve been working on the script with my co-writer, Jeff Rendell, who plays the pilgrim in the trailer. And it’s me imitating Jeff’s voice [for the narration]. But Jeff has been working. I said that his deal is he has to work on the script while I’m promoting The Last Exorcism, and as soon as I’m done in mid-September he’s going to fly to California, we’re going to sit down, and bang out the script.

Look, the trailer had a couple of good visuals, but what made it work was exactly that it was an homage to old ultra low budget horror, especially when it was embedded in the overall framework of an entire project of homage. Watching that trailer, it had the glorious feeling of those ancient, straight to VHS films that you’d rent as a teenager from Blockbuster. There’d be scads of blood, a topless woman or two, and a few creative scenes of gore that stuck with you way more than you thought possible. But I don’t know that Thanksgiving can really work in and of itself as a film. There’s not much point in lampooning bad old horror, those films really do that to themselves, and the only other direction is to play it straight, which is to say, to actually make a crappy old horror movie. Sure, it’s funny in a two minute trailer, but stretched to two hours?

Yeah, I get that it’s supposed to be ironic, but there’s a fairly wide line between actual irony in film making and just saying “my film is shitty, but it’s shitty just like this other stack of films, so it’s not actually shitty, it’s ironic.” That’s not irony, that’s just an excuse.

Here’s the original trailer again:

(source: Cinema Blend)

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Comments

I'm holding out for Werewolf Women of the SS.

Posted by: Bea Pants at August 25, 2010 9:43 AM

@ Bea Pants - Agreed. We're just two steps away from it. (Don't HAS to happen.)

Posted by: DoctorControversy at August 25, 2010 9:56 AM

"That’s not irony, that’s just an excuse."

This is exactly how I feel about a lot Tarantino's films lately. I absolutely hated Deathproof and everyone's excuse for it is that it's an homage or it's making fun of those kinds of films. When your characters spend 45 minutes in pointless babbling dialogue, I don't care if they get killed and the suspense is killed. When your characters are cruising around at 100 mph tied to their hood, on purpose, acting like a bunch of dipshits; I don't care if some asshole runs them off the road.

Posted by: Paul at August 25, 2010 10:04 AM

Grindhouse sucked. Planet Terror was lame, Deathproof had a great last 20 minutes. It was a huge disappointment. Can we please stop spinning shit off of it. Machete looks stupid, Thanksgiving was mildly amusing as a trailer. Please, move on now. I already lost 4 hours in the theater to this thing, not ready to give up anymore time to it.

Posted by: TylerDFC at August 25, 2010 10:16 AM

I loved Grindhouse in the theater because it was an experience more than it was a movie. And while I hope Machete does well (more Danny Trejo in your life is always good), I'm generally non-plussed about seeing it.

As for Thanksgiving, it can work if you do it right. The problem is that I don't trust Eli to do it right.

Posted by: Fredo at August 25, 2010 10:28 AM

Ah man, Thanksgiving was the worst of the whole set.

Posted by: coryo at August 25, 2010 11:02 AM

"... we’re going to sit down, and bang out the script"

Bang out the script - that is always such a reassuring turn of phrase.

Posted by: Simon at August 25, 2010 11:39 AM

This is the best thing Roth has ever directed. Not sayin much.

Posted by: ian at August 25, 2010 12:24 PM

The "Thanksgiving" trailer was more than enough to prove that Roth has some VERY disturbing issues with women. I don't need to see a whole movie of it.

Posted by: Todd at August 25, 2010 12:28 PM

He must also have some VERY disturbing issues with men.

Posted by: Harry Coverts at August 25, 2010 2:51 PM

I wouldn't watch the movie for the trampoline scene alone. Gah gah GAH.

Posted by: Julie at August 25, 2010 3:24 PM

When you have to mine YOUR OWN old ideas for supposedly "new" material I think you've hit a new low.
But can anything really go lower than Eli Roth?

I thought Grindhouse would be fun and campy. Instead, I spent most of the time bored and tired, and watched people actually walk out after Planet Terror. Planet Terror was okay, Death Proof proved to me that Tarantino has never been privy to a conversation between female friends IN HIS LIFE. And also, it really, really bugged me in that movie that Mary Elizabeth Winstead's character was left by her supposed friends to probably be raped by the creeper. They offered her up like a lamb! And didn't even care. I mean, who would do that to THEIR FRIEND.
Gah, this is just opening up old wounds for me.

Posted by: ninetwenteetoo at August 25, 2010 4:06 PM

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Blood in the Mashed Potatoes

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