Eli Roth’s wicked slasher “Thanksgiving,” which is now in theaters, isn’t the only horror movie about turkey day. If you’re hungry for more holiday mayhem and murder, we’ve whipped up this list of Thanksgiving-adjacent flicks.
Only a few are set entirely during the actual holiday, like the 2014 slasher “Kristy,” but Wednesday Addams burning down her summer camp’s Thanksgiving play is one of our favorite scenes from “Addams Family Values.”
Here’s where to stream this seven-course list:
The Stepfather (1987)
Terry O’Quinn, best known for his role as John Locke on ABC’s “Lost,” plays Jerry, a man who kills his entire family … and plans to do it again with new wife Susan (Shelley Hack) and stepdaughter Stephanie (Jill Schoelen). Stephanie rightly distrusts Jerry from the beginning, but at Thanksgiving, they decided it’s time to (metaphorically) bury the hatchet. The only thing that gets carved in this scene is the turkey.
Stream on Peacock, Freevee, Crackle or Plex
Pet Sematary (1989)
While this Stephen King adaptation is a perfect Halloween watch, don’t forget that the mayhem begins on Thanksgiving. Dad Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff) spends the holiday alone with the cat, Church, while his wife and kids visit family. When Church is unfortunately killed, Louie makes the fateful decision to revive him through the nearby “pet sematary.” More deaths and more unholy resurrections follow.
Stream on Max or Paramount+
Addams Family Values (1993)
The real horror in this delightful sequel is when Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) get sent to summer camp. Naturally, Wednesday is assigned to play Pocahontas during the traditional Thanksgiving play, where she proceeds to torch the set after an equally fiery speech. “You have taken the land that is rightfully ours… I have decided to scalp you and burn your village to the ground,” she tells her perky blonde nemesis. Chaos reigns.
Stream on Paramount+
Home Movie (2008)
In this found footage film, The Poe family realizes over several holidays — including Thanksgiving — that their twin son and daughter are actually evil. Warning: Many animals are killed and things don’t look too good for Mom and Dad.
Stream on AMC+, Shudder, or Tubi
Kristy (2014)
A resourceful college student (Haley Bennett) battles to survive a Thanksgiving assault on the mostly empty dorms in this underrated thriller.
Stream on Pluto, Tubi, The Roku Channel or Vudu
The Lodge (2019)
While most of this unsettling film is set during a Christmas-gone-wrong, Thanksgiving is a pivotal point where widower Richard (Richard Armitage) decides to marry Grace (Riley Keough), who is a cult survivor. His kids don’t trust her and turns out their instincts were dead on.
Stream on Max
Pilgrim (2019)
Actors hired to play 17th century pilgrims for a Thanksgiving get-together refuse to break character in this horror movie that’s part of Hulu’s “Into the Dark” series.
Stream on Hulu
