Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving fixes one of the worst horror movie tropes around

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As a cat lover and horror fanatic with a soft spot for fluffy felines that have been unjustly victimized by the silver screen, I must say Eli Roth’s 2023 slasher masterpiece, “Thanksgiving,” has restored my faith in the genre. The scene where the masked killer tenderly feeds and pets the victim’s cat instead of adding it to the body count is a breath of fresh air.

Despite my strong affection for horror movies, I can’t stand it when films include scenes of animals being cruelly killed, especially cats. The number of feline casualties in the genre is simply too high. It seems that these deaths are often used to elicit laughter or sensationalize the horror, which I find distressing.

It seems that there might be a hidden psychological significance to this, such as cats generally being perceived as more feminine than dogs, making them a more humorous target compared to the solemn treatment of dog deaths. However, the reason doesn’t matter; Eli Roth’s 2023 slasher movie Thanksgiving flips this expectation on its head in an impressive manner. Warning: The following discussion contains spoilers for a specific scene.

In the film, there’s a sequence where the movie’s mysterious murderer, wearing a mask reminiscent of John Carver, intrudes upon one of his future victims’ homes and ends their life. The victim in this case, Manny, owns a feline companion. After Manny is deceased, the killer decides to attend to Manny’s pet cat before departing. He pauses to provide food for the tiny creature and even gently strokes its head.

Instead of the countless horror films that have preceded, featuring antagonists who kill cats as a chilling message or mere cruelty towards victims, this one offers a delightful shift in tone. Somehow, it can appear as though the filmmakers are subtly exhibiting an unkind spirit. One might wonder, what offense did cat lovers commit against you all?

Thing is, it even makes more sense for some of these murderers to own cats and be fond of them. I mean, I could see Michael Myers being a cat person. Or, at the very least, leave them alone instead of murdering them. But if Thanksgiving can start a new trend where horror movies feature a fun bit where the cats are treated kindly, I would be happy to see them included more often.

If you don’t want horror movies to continue the trope of pets being killed, it’s become quite predictable for those who have watched many scary films. To keep things interesting, a common strategy is to flip the script, as Roth does in his 2023 slasher movie.

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2024-11-28 23:25