Thanksgiving kills 🦃, Marcus Dunstan's 'Pilgrim' turns 5 🎥, Shudder reveals December lineup🩸, & more!

Well, hello there, dear readers. We're back! We took a little time off to focus on both family and work, but knew we had a lot to talk about in this issue, so here we are!

Now that Halloween has come and gone, Bee and I have been going full throttle with Horrorverse. Bee has developed a number of great ideas, including our themed newsletters (e.g. last issue’s Melissa Barrera-centered newsletter), and we’re going to be unraveling some new sections to accommodate the next phase.

This week in the U.S., many of us are celebrating Thanksgiving, a time to come together with friends and family to sit around the table, talk shop, and eat a ton of food. Also, because it's Thanksgiving, how could we not have a Thanksgiving-themed newsletter? In this issue, Bee celebrates the fifth anniversary of Pilgrim, the Marcus Dunstan-directed holiday masterpiece that's streaming on Hulu. We're also doing a Recommended if You Like for Eli Roth's Thanksgiving. So, gobble up those leftovers, plop yourself on the couch, and enjoy some of our Thanksgiving recommendations!

When all is done, many of us will be sitting on the couch, shopping for Black Friday deals, or watching a horror film or ten in comfort. We hope the latter for you all.

If you celebrate, have a happy and healthy holiday from us at Horrorverse.

Issue 024’s Letterboxd list can be found here

While it may be a time for gathering family and friends together, it's also a time to mash brains and spill blood. Whether you're in the mood to celebrate before or after the holiday, here are some Thanksgiving films to get you (and your stomach) in the mood for the holiday, or some films to fall asleep to afterward (because of your food coma). Check out the list on Letterboxd.

Marcus Dunstan’s Pilgrim Sheds Light on Brutality of Puritans

The American education system teaches kids that the first Thanksgiving saw an amicable exchange of ideas, traditions, and customs between Puritan settlers and Indigenous peoples. The digital information age exposed the truth, and we now know what actually happened when Europeans landed in this country. Those days were riddled with the murder of Native Americans, cruel enslavement, and the spread of disease. Those tragedies send ripples throughout our culture until this day.

With 2019’s Pilgrim, director Marcus Dunstan (who co-wrote the script with Noah Feinberg and Patrick Melton) shows how savage Pilgrims were through explicit dialogue and displays of violent intent to force a family to be grateful for all they have. Anna (Courtney Henggeler) struggles in her relationship with her rebellious stepdaughter Cody (Reign Edwards), whose real mother abandoned her when she was little. To bring her family together, Anna hires Puritan reenactors to stay in their house and teach them about the meaning of Thanksgiving. Cody’s work-obsessed father Shane (Kerr Smith) concedes that maybe their family needs some time off their electronic devices and reconnect with one another.

When Puritan reenactor Ethan (Peter Giles) arrives on their doorstep, Tate (Antonio Raul Garcia), Cody’s impressionable younger brother, expresses excitement over their visitor. Through various bits of conversation, Cody articulates a vastly dissimilar reaction, noting how the cherished holiday marked the mass genocide of native tribes. As the voice of reason, the young teen warns her parents about how strange Ethan behaves when he refuses to break character. His actions begin as insidious worms, as he builds a makeshift shack in the backyard and guides Anna in redecorating their home with things like candles in place of electrical lights and such.

Given free rein, Ethan and his companion reenactor Patience (Elyse Levesque) completely transform the home and invite a dozen or so other Puritans to assist in preparing the Thanksgiving feast. With Tate’s quick understanding, Ethan gives him compassion and grace, believing he is the only one in the family who’s learned anything. As the story becomes unglued, Anna, Shane, and Cody fall under the oppressive thumb of the Puritans – forced into various torture devices, like a pillory and ducking stool. Reaching their breaking point, physically and mentally, the family sets aside their differences and rallies together for a common goal: kill the Puritans. Bodies hit the floor and blood splatters the ground, totally covering their hands, faces, and Puritan attire. Reconnecting over shared trauma, they ironically learn the value in what they have – never taking anything for granted ever again.

Loosely based on a true story – a Puritan reenactor once came to Feinberg’s home as a kid – Pilgrim remains incredibly timely, especially in an age when fanatical religious beliefs are frequently used to mutilate and murder others. With its unapologetically brazen approach, the film provides a necessary visual aid to further shift the conversation about the actual events that took place around the supposed first Thanksgiving. It’s bloody and brutal, an indication of what likely happened during the founding of the United States as we know it.

Through Cody’s eyes, we see history anew (I suggest doing your own deep-dive research into the atrocities inflicted upon native tribes) and gain critical knowledge in understanding this country’s soured and gnarly roots. As history repeats itself, it’s up to us, dear readers, to hold to the truth, inform others, and band together in times of uncertainty. The internet is right: it is time to cancel Thanksgiving.

Blood Freak may be one of the goofiest low-budget slashers of all time. Co-writers and co-directors Brad Grinter and Steve Hawkes stage a hilarious epic about a biker who turns into a half-man, half-turkey. After Herschell (Hawkes) helps a young woman fix her car, he goes back to her house where a drug-fueled party takes place. New to town, he soon finds himself taking a job at a local turkey farm. Experimenting on turkeys, the workers test out the meat on Herschell, who experiences a deadly reaction and morphs into a turkey-man. He's unable to control his murderous impulses and plots a rampage through town. From wooden acting to darkly-lit scenes, Blood Freak is an amateur-ish undertaking... but it's a hoot 'n a half. [written by Bee]

Turning 50 this year, midnight slaughter fest Frightmare deserves a proper celebration. From its grainy, lo-fi quality and shrill, unhinged acting, the 1974 film bludgeons the skull with its tale about a cannibal named Dorothy (Sheila Keith) and her husband Edmund (Rupert Davies). After serving time in a mental institution for a string of murders in 1957, they return to their countryside estate. Stil psychotic, Dorothy relapses and begins a fresh killing spree, leading to a bloody climax involving her stepdaughter Jackie (Deborah Fairfax). For Thanksgiving viewing, this would make a great double feature with Blood Rage. [written by Bee]

It may have only come out last year, but Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving, like Pilgrim, will become an annual holiday (re)watch. If you’ve seen it (or both), here are some other films to check out on Letterboxd.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice heads to MAX on December 6th.

Blumhouse's Speak No Evil, a remake of the 2022 film, hits Peacock on December 6th.

Popeye the Slayer Man's first trailer is now available. Stock up on your spinach and check it out on Fangoria.

David Fincher's Se7en is hitting theaters to celebrate its 30th anniverary! It'd be a sin not to see it in IMAX on January 3, 2025.

Terrifier 3 hit Digital on November 26th, but look out for the physical release on December 17th!

Eli Craig's Clown in a Cornfield, which was acquired by RLJE and Shudder, will scare theatergoers on May 9, 2025.

The Soho Horror Film Festival returns for its 7th anniversary, bringing fearless film lovers their next favorite scary movie, year on year. From November 22nd-24th, the festival will head underground to the Whirled Cinema, Brixton for a 3 day in-person extravaganza. Then, in their continued efforts to remain as inclusive and accessible as possible, the festival will maintain its vanguard of online accessible screenings, running from the November 28th - December 1st with a unique program of films and events to both the in-person and virtual festivals. More info at sohohorrorfest.com.