Film Review: ThanksKilling (2009) | HNN

SYNOPSIS:

Five college kids have their Thanksgiving break ruined by a homicidal turkey.

REVIEW:

I’ll admit I have a bit of a soft spot for independents who can pull off a film both funny, horrific and somewhat original. Killer Turkey anyone?, and just in time for Thanksgiving month. Yes its a film about a killer turkey, those who don’t like to have fun can check yourself out now. As Thankskilling is exactly that….. alot of fun. We got some gut pouring head splattering and beak attacks for thrills but at the heart of it we got 1 obnoxious puppet turkey prop.

Yunno the kind where you used to stick objects in front of the camera and make them talk like they were alive? Well the folks over at Broad Daylight films with director/writer Jordan Downey at the helm have done a bit of the same. To be fair though there is a film built around the concept. As I understand , (cause the origin section kind of blazed by) A necromantic indian put a curse on the white man by possessing a turkey every 500 years (maybe it was 505, I forget). Turkey talks, makes jokes, kills, impersonates people and kind of steals the show as a little obnoxious fellow who happens to be a feathered beast.

I think the resurgence in puppet horror is making a comeback as I’m seeing alot of animated camera puppets these days. Well if you are a fan of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog then the possessed turkey is right up your alley! He even mocks folks before the kills. Heck I bet Robert Smigel could step in a do the sequel.

Now getting back to things, the film stars a group of young adult characters who star in the film as follows: Lindsey Anderson as Kirsten, Natasha Cordova as Ali (the group slut), Ryan E. Francis as Darren (the nerdy intellect), Lance Predmore as Johnny (the stud, jock kind of still nice guy person) and Aaron Ringhiser-Carlson as Billy (redneck, yeehah and good ol boy wrapped in one). How these band of unlikelies ended up together is my guess… though there still is a Scooby doo kind of relationship going on here.

Well, the group of partygoers are the target of one mean turkey. Somehow their party in the woods carelessness has put them on the warpath of this crazy but still kind of hip psycho foul. The characters run pretty high on the idiot scale and throw in as many character cliques as they can muster. This film could of easily been a short and held up, but a few more plot tricks and it’s become a feature.

Gags are cheap and low common denominator but in all its low budgetness its pretty hilarious to watch. As a reviewer it can get pretty bland watching a serious of derivative ghost or slasher films, so Thankskilling delivers that all-needed silly punch to lighten the load. FX work isn’t bad and works quite well for the film. Yet all the on screen gore is tempered with a absurdity and silliness.

I loved the hunt for the ancient Turkey book, that has the secrets to killing off fictional possessed fouls. Even simple things like the time flash and then commented with “what are you talking about , its only been 5 minutes” is pretty cute (the only word I could think of). Favorite portions go to the turkey pretending he is the father by wearing a skin mask.

In all, ThanksKilling is a micro budget gem. I also proves that silly and cheap can still provide the goods for a hungry audience…Gotta bone to pick? Don’t ruffle your feathers, um….ok, maybe I should stop there 😉