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Posted in: Horror, Movies, Sony | Tagged: eli roth, film, horror, slasher, thanksgiving
Eli Roth Shares the Origin of His Thanksgiving Slasher John Carver
Horror filmmaker Eli Roth is revealing the primary objective behind his new, unexpected Thanksgiving slasher icon John Carver.
Article Summary
- Eli Roth's 'Thanksgiving' turns Grindhouse trailer into a campy slasher hit.
- The villain, John Carver, was inspired by New Plymouth Colony's first governor.
- Mask design stems from the 400-year Plymouth anniversary and 2020 plans.
- Roth aims to entertain and provide themes for deeper analysis in his film.
We're now entering the third week of Thanksgiving, a Grindhouse-trailer-turned-film, which has already managed to earn its budget back due to the film's ability to offer audiences campy, slasher goodness. And just like Scream needs Ghostface, or Friday the 13th requires Jason, there's always a prerequisite for a solid slasher villain in order to keep audiences coming back for more. So how did Thanksgiving's own horror icon, John Carver, come to fruition? Here's what you need to know!
Thanksgiving Director Eli Roth on John Carver's Intentional Slasher Origins
During an interview with Bloody Disgusting, filmmaker Eli Roth talked about the first governor of New Plymouth Colony (John Carver) and how it actually inspired the film's slasher villain. Roth notes, "We started looking at the design, and there is one drawing of John Carver. There's one image of him. We took that as the basis for the mask. We said, 'Well, why would there be this mask?' Well, 2020 would be the 400-year anniversary of the founding of Plymouth. It was a big deal. We actually tried to time the movie for it to come out in 2020, but it fell apart, and COVID happened. So we thought, 'Well, what if they made all these masks for the quatercentenary?'"
The director later adds, "It's got to be a mask that was given out that everybody in town has that's kind of weird and uncanny of this historical figure, but when they're in your kitchen with an ax, that's when it's terrifying. You know? Seeing it out of context." Roth continued, "I mean, you think about the Pilgrims murdering the Native Americans. We have a rampaging Pilgrim killing on Thanksgiving. I wanted to make a movie that would be a great fun slasher film, but if some kid wanted to write a paper for high school about the themes in this film, give them a lot to chew on."
The film's official summary: After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts — the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan. Will the town uncover the killer and survive the holidays… or become guests at his twisted holiday dinner table?
Thanksgiving is in theaters now.
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