The Horror Show
Thankskilling 3
by Jordan Downey
If there's one thing that the horror genre was missing it was definitely a murderous turkey with a bad attitude. Luckily, in 2009, we were taken off the hook on this major problem with the film Thankskilling. Thankskilling was a low-budget effort that centered around a group of college students getting killed in the woods by the winged predator. Then, in 2012, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, we were graced with another installment, simply called Thankskilling 3. If you're wondering why I skipped past mentioning Thankskilling 2, the simple answer is that I didn't. There is no such film as Thankskilling 2, at least not in the sense that you can go out and pick up a copy of the DVD. Thankskilling 2 exists as an element of the third (second) film, but only exists in the Thankskilling universe. This may seem odd, but it fits in just fine with what Thankskilling 3 ends up being. In the end, this film is insane, vile, random, ridiculous, and I absolutely loved every second of it.
Thankskilling 3 opens up showing us a clip from the fictional sequel to the first Thankskilling film, which touts itself as the only film completely shot in space. It is also stated that it is considered the worst film of all time and all copies have been destroyed, as they are now considered evil and dangerous. No one is more bent on destroying the last remaining copy than Rhonda, an intelligent worm and his large robot friend Muff. I'm seriously not making any of this up.
We are now re-introduced to the feathered villain known only as Turkie. He is now living with his turkey wife and turkey son, who both seem to irritate him beyond belief. After finding out that his latest film has been destroyed and some domestic slicing and dicing, he takes his son Nibla on a journey to track down the last remaining DVD.
Here we meet our protagonists. The first is Yomi, a puppet creature who has recently lost the physical embodiment of her mind and is on a quest to get it back. During her journey she meets Uncle Donny (Daniel Usaj), a local TV personality/inventor. Yomi knows that her lost mind is someone connected with the concept of Thanksgiving and is drawn to Uncle Donny as he is creating a Thanksgiving-based theme park with the help of his colonial clothed friend Jefferson (Joe Hartzler). Jefferson lives with his mother, an elderly woman who is an aspiring rapper. Here is where our heroes join forces with Rhonda and Muff to battle the evil Turkey who has sinister plans for all of them. It will take a trip into turkey hell to battle the despicable fowl, and plenty of mayhem ensues.
I realize how absolutely insane this description is, but I wouldn't want this film any other way. It's an absolute blast from start to finish and never takes a single second to get boring. The first thing about Thankskilling 3 that I was thrilled by was the fact that it is mostly a puppet movie. Ever since discovering Meet the Feebles I've been on a hardcore quest for similar films, but in ten years have only found the also fantastic Puppet Monster Massacre. Funny how I stumbled across this film by accident and it was exactly what I was looking for. Unlike these other puppet films, Thankskilling 3 mixes humans with puppets Sesame Street style. Yomi is the only puppet that is acknowledged as a puppet creature, however. For example, the character Jefferson is played by a flesh and blood human but his elderly mother is played by a puppet. I loved this element and was so happy that I discovered a flick that contained such a mixture of actors and puppets.
The budget for this film is clearly higher than the first one. You can call it stupid and worthless all you want if that's how you feel about it, but don't call it cheap. A lot of time and effort was clearly put forward and co-writer/director/voice actor Jordan Downey didn't take his successful campaign lightly. Rather than just rehash the first film he gave fans a real force in the cult world and the movie is as entertaining as movies get.
Obviously this isn't a horror film that is intended to be scary in any way. But horror fans needn't worry. There's plenty of slashing, splattering, and chaotic energy to keep the horror fan's thirst consistently quenched. The film is packed with spot-on humor and I absolutely responded to this aspect. Daniel Usaj gets the most screen time of the physical actors in the film and he is superb. His character has a lot of humorous characteristics that he absolutely nails. I loved the dynamic between he and the puppet characters and I can't imagine anyone else playing the role.
The character of Turkie is a mean-spirited menacing entity and even the Gingerdead man better watch his back. The humor with his character is drenched in horrible acts and a lust for blood, and Turkie manages to be a full-fledged character despite being a murderous puppet. I grew to love many of the characters in the movie and it was a fun ride from start to finish. It changes directions several times which at first seems unfortunate, but it always stays just as entertaining and moves around frequently to stay fresh.
As someone who adores the work of Troma and similar manic-energy films, I was pleasantly surprised with Thankskilling 3. I go into movies expecting to like them, but figured this one would be your average low budget slasher. Instead, I got a completely original film that was wall to wall fun. It goes without saying that this film isn't for everyone, including some horror fans, but if you're like me and love surreal puppet-based craziness,Thankskilling 3 is an absolute must see. You won't find many other films like this one.
P.J. Griffin, HMS
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