You might remember that last year I reviewed a shit ton of Christmas themed horror movies for the Christmas season. This year I thought that maybe I’d try reviewing some Thanksgiving themed horror movie, but there aren’t really as many out there. I guess the good thing about there being so few Thanksgiving horror movies is it will make it easier to go through them? One of those horror movies that takes place on Thanksgiving was Blood Rage. This movie is also known as “Nightmare at Shadow Woods”, but this version has some heavy cuts to it, so I was lucky to track down the uncut version. There’s going to be spoilers in this review, so not there are any surprises, but if knowing the plot ahead of time is something you’re not interested in, I’ll just say I recommend checking out this gory slasher about mistaken identity.

Guys he’s obviously just asleep so let’s all chill out before yelling “murder” okay?

At a drive-in movie theater, a mom waits for her twin boys to fall asleep before she starts necking with a man. WHOA BOY, THAT’S SEXY. The twins pretend they’re asleep, grab a hatchet, and one of the twins murders a different couple who are making out. The murdering twin, Terry, hands the hatchet over to the other twin, Todd, who appears to be in shock and might possibly have some mental issues. Todd is blamed for the crimes and is sent to an asylum. Terry grows up and is seemingly normal and no one finds out he was the one who killed the couple. Years later, Todd escapes from the asylum on Thanksgiving so Terry and their mom are nervous about Todd’s murderous return. Wanting to make sure that Todd will be sent back to the asylum, Terry starts killing people again so that the murders will ensure Todd takes the blame. When Todd tries to convince people he’s not the killer, they’re obviously hesitant to believe him, especially as they’re finding corpses. When people think they’re seeing Terry, they feel safe, until he then murders him. The twins end up having a confrontation where Todd murders Terry for all the things he’s done, which is when their mom walks in and is relieved to see who she thinks is her insane son Todd killed. When Todd lets their mom know that he was the sane one all along, she is so sad that she kills herself. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The old “here hold this and let me smear blood on your face so you get in trouble” trick. Classic!

I think to call this a “Thanksgiving themed” horror movie might be a little bit of a stretch, but with so few other options, I’ll have to settle for it. There is a scene where people are carving up a turkey, so I guess it counts? Plus there are a few instances of Terry being covered in blood and telling people that it isn’t cranberry sauce, a popular Thanksgiving delight! Despite Thanksgiving not really being involved, Blood Rage is still pretty entertaining. I know that the plot sounds really similar to something like Black Christmas (edit: I mean Black Xmas, not the OG from 1974, thanks Brian) or Halloween with the whole “escaped mental patient returning home” thing, but the twist of the wrong twin being accused of the murders makes it original enough that you’re not comparing it to those other movies while watching it. I mentioned that the gore was really fun, and, well, it is. There are hands getting chopped off and torsos being cut in half and hatchets to the face and all of that good stuff. They also frequently utilize the old school (despite it not being “old school” at the time) method of hiding someone underneath a false floor so that the top half can be above ground and flop around method of filming severed body parts. Did that make sense? OH YOU KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. Even if you don’t know what I mean from that detailed description, once you see this movie you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Blood Rage was fun to check out for Thanksgiving, but I think it’s a fun movie with a couple of twists that’s fun for the whole family no matter what season it is! By the way, don’t show this to your whole family.

Wolfman Moon Scale