It’s time to prepare your Thanksgiving shopping list. While you’re doing that we have a list of our own for you. The following are movies that might be a perfect paring to counteract the tryptophan in your turkey meat. Plus, who doesn’t like a good holiday-themed horror movie?

Last year, Eli Roth may have given us the best turkey-day slasher so far with Thanksgiving, but there are some others just as noteworthy. They may not be as polished as Roth’s but that doesn’t mean they are any less enjoyable.

Horror movies with a slasher and a holiday theme started back in 1974 with Black Christmas. No one would consider it a gimmick until 1979 when Halloween became a box office success. Then in 1980 Friday the 13th followed suit and a whole genre was born. Suddenly every holiday was the perfect setting for a horror movie. From Mother’s Day to Happy Birthday to Me, to Graduation Day to Valentine’s, there was a killer for every season. It became such a problem even A-list critics at the time had had enough of the trope.

Thankfully, most of them have been preserved. Thanksgiving Day isn’t a popular cinematic slasher period, but we have found some that should satisfy your gizzards. Since some of these titles are decades old, we suggest looking on JustWatch to search out where to stream them.

Thanksgiving (2023)

The inspiration for this film was a fake trailer in the Rodriguez/Tarantino collaborative Grindhouse. Eli Roth expanded that into a full-length film. It’s a bloody good time with plenty of gore and humor just like the real day.

Blood Freak (1972)

You may never look at turkey the same way again. A biker gets a job at a turkey farm and agrees to act as a guinea pig for some chemicals that need to be tested, failing to anticipate the murderous side effects.

Blood Rage (1987)

Twins Todd and Terry seem like sweet boys that is, until one of them takes an axe to face of a fellow patron at the local drive-in. Todd is blamed for the bloody crime and institutionalized, whilst twin brother Terry goes free. Ten years later and, as the family gathers around the table for a Thanksgiving meal, the news comes in that Todd has escaped. But has the real killer in fact been in their midst all along? One thing’s for sure, there will be blood and rage!

Home Sweet Home (1981)

An escaped mental patient steals a station wagon and makes his way to the Bradleys’ Thanksgiving celebration, where he plans to make them a little less thankful…

ThanksKilling (2008)

Here is a personal favorite. Jordan Downey’s ultra-low-budget comedy is a cult classic. Downey recently directed a segment on the latest installment of V/H/S/Beyond, but this wonderfully off-the-rails movie won’t ever get old. Here’s the plot breakdown in 10 words: “A homicidal turkey axes off college kids during Thanksgiving break.”

Kristy (2014)

When a college girl who is alone on campus over the Thanksgiving break is targeted by a group of outcasts, she must conquer her deepest fears to outwit them and fight back.