Released just in time for the holidays are ThanksKilling (2008) and ThanksKilling 3 (2012), as special-edition Blu-rays from the MVD Rewind Collection. Containing hours and hours of special features, these comedy/horror titles are given the uber-deluxe treatment on these new slipcovered limited-edition releases.
Both deluxe and standard Blu-ray and DVD editions are available here from MVD.
Located near Columbus, Ohio, in Licking County, Granville’s population is barely over 6,000 people. The little-area might seem an unlikely starting point for a film called ThanksKilling, but it is indeed where creator, director, and writer Jordan Downey hails from. After attending a California film school, Downey ended up as an uncredited zombie in Day of the Dead 2: Contagion in 2005. Less than a year later, Downey created and released the short film Hackjob. A couple of years after this, a young Bella Thorne starred in his 2nd released short, Craw Lake.
ThanksKilling is Jordan’s first feature. Running just over an hour, this deliberately goofy-as-hell film features a crazed killer turkey slicing through a bunch of teens on holiday. Made with little money but a lot of audacity, ThanksKilling isn’t ever going to replace Planes, Trains and Automobiles as every family’s preferred holiday favorite, but if you like bird-on-human violence and a whole lot of quotable one-liners this will be for you.
Packed with boobs, blood, and feathers, ThanksKilling is a hard film to hate on. Jordan and his small, inexperienced team create a sometimes funny, completely ridiculous work that’s finally a lot of fun, which is just the thing a film called ThanksKilling should be.
The best thing about ThanksKilling is its practical effects, both effective and witty. From puppets to primitive animation, ThanksKilling is a gooey little film. Taking a decidedly anti-PC stance, any offense this film might have caused is tempered by just how silly everything is, and buddy, is this ever silly, but delightfully so.
ThanksKilling 3 is a much more ambitious, ultimately less-successful film than its predecessor. Running about half an hour longer and featuring a lot more puppet and stop-motion effects, ThanksKilling 3 is all over the place. Part sci-fi, part-horror, all abrasive comedy, ThanksKilling 3 is noteworthy for just how many chances it takes, but much of the original’s charm is lost.
Once again created, written and directed by Jordan, the main joke behind ThanksKilling 3 is that ThanksKilling 2 doesn’t exist. The ‘lost’ second part plays a big part in this sequel’s convoluted plot. Aspects of this work, some lines hit and it is easy to admire all of the effort than went into the film’s many effects, but this just didn’t play for me as well as the first film. It is a bit like Jason X compared to the original Friday the 13th.
Both ThanksKilling and ThanksKilling 3 are overflowing with extras, too numerous to detail all here. Let me put it this way. Fans of the ThanksKilling films could literally start watching these beginning with Thanksgiving leftovers at breakfast and still be working on them well into Black Friday evening. To say these are exhaustive releases is putting it mildly.
-Jeremy Richey, November 2026-
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