The holidays are now in full swing, with Thanksgiving arriving later this week. And as always, we’d like to remind you that horror can provide the perfect escape from holiday stress. This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to horror titles perfect for Thanksgiving. These picks avoid some of the most obvious choices, like Blood Rage […]
The holidays are now in full swing, with Thanksgiving arriving later this week. And as always, we’d like to remind you that horror can provide the perfect escape from holiday stress.
This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to horror titles perfect for Thanksgiving. These picks avoid some of the most obvious choices, like Blood Rage(available on Night Flight+) or Thanksgiving(on Netflix), in favor of more unexpected holiday horror offerings.
These titles include cult classics that bring nail-biting tension and/or extra servings of cheese, all set during the Thanksgiving holiday. Here’s where you can stream them this week.
A raucous, campy creature feature that captures the horrors of shopping on Black Friday. Set within a toy store, it follows a group of disgruntled employees as they begrudgingly arrive for work on Thanksgiving to settle in for the busiest day in retail. Meanwhile, an alien parasite crashes into Earth via meteor. The employees’ rough night gets exponentially worse when their shoppers become bloodthirsty monsters. Director Casey Tebo is most interested in fun with this holiday horror entry, and it boasts a great cast that includes Devon Sawa and Bruce Campbell.
The Boneyard – Pluto TV, Prime Video, the Roku Channel, Tubi
This pick is for those that prefer very little in the way of holiday theming. With a very atypical protagonist, the film follows a depressed psychic as she works with detectives to get to the bottom of the mystery behind a funeral home owner with three corpses of mummified children in his possession. Only, these aren’t dead children, but “kyoshi,” or undead cursed children that must feed on human flesh. They’re very creepy, and yet they still don’t prepare for the wild finale teased on the VHS cover box. Though, it does take its time getting there. The Boneyard was written and directed by James Cummins, the creature designer behind the inventive apparitions in 1986’s House. It’s Thanksgiving horror set almost entirely within a creepy morgue.
Into the Dark: Pilgrim – Hulu
A woman invites pilgrim re-enactors into her home to give her family an authentic recreation of the first Thanksgiving, hoping it’ll get them to put down their phones and bring them closer together. Her well-intentioned plan backfires when the actors refuse to break character, however, and their behavior grows more alarming. Written by Noah Feinberg, Patrick Melton, and Marcus Dunstan, the latter of whom directs, Pilgrim builds to a wild finale.
The Stepfather – Fandango at Home, Hoopla, Kanopy, Peacock, Prime Video, the Roku Channel, SCREAMBOX, Shout! TV, Tubi
Terry O’Quinn stars as the title character, a serial murderer who targets single mothers, hoping to find his perfect family. When it doesn’t work out, he murders his new makeshift family, changes his appearance, and skips town to begin anew. Loosely based on mass murderer John List, The Stepfather brings the intensity thanks to a bone-chilling turn by O’Quinn. His reign of terror is set against a Fall backdrop, with the autumnal vibes only adding to the pervasive sense of dread. That also includes a notable Thanksgiving dinner scene.
ThanksKilling – Pluto TV, the Roku Channel, SCREAMBOX, Tubi
Gobble Gobble, Motherf*cker. This pick is for those who are hungry for a heaping helping of turkey this holiday season. As in, this movie is an absolute turkey, the precise type of cult favorite that aims for pure holiday escapism and entertainment. Jordan Downey’s 2008 horror-comedy lets a homicidal turkey loose on unsuspecting college kids over the Thanksgiving break. It’s as crass as it is low budget, with this turkey giving Jack Frost a run for his money in terms of schlocky holiday horror fare best served with rowdy friends and a glass of spiked eggnog.
Pair it with follow-up ThanksKilling 3, also streaming on SCREAMBOX!
