This is a special review for me because the original ThanksKilling is what got me started on reviewing “terrible movies” in the first place. You see, my family and I had this long-standing contest to try and find “the worst movie”. My sister was winning for a while with “The Legend of Gatorface” until my Dad sat us down as a family and we watched ThanksKilling. There were several times when we had to pause the movie because we were laughing so damn hard, and it was almost always at a part that the movie intended to be funny.
You can imagine how excited I was to sit down and start watching the brand-new sequel, “ThanksKilling 3“.
I’m going to do everything I can to avoid spoilers, because this movie is brand new, but be warned, I’m half-retarded.
Disclaimer: The other half is also retarded.
ThanksKilling 3 takes place roughly 5 years after the events of the first movie, and during this time Turkie (yes, with an “ie”) has been busy starting a family and working on a sequel to ThanksKilling. We are shown clips from ThanksKilling 2, which, as promised in the original, takes place in outer space. It is purposefully awful and is followed by a scene where two men in hazmat suits use flamethrowers to ignite a dump truck full of ThanksKilling 2 DVDs and memorabilia. Turkie catches wind of this and goes ballistic, thus starting his quest to obtain the last remaining copy of ThanksKilling 2, murdering anyone foolish enough to get in his way.
Along the way we are introduced to a wide variety of colorful characters, including;
Nibla – Turkie’s son
Yomi – a yellow puppet-girl from outer-space
Uncle Donny – inventor of the Pluckmaster 3000 and curator of Thanksgivingland Theme Park
Jefferson – Head of Security at Thanksgivingland
Flois – Jefferson’s rapping geriatric mother
Rhonda – a bisexual space-worm
Muff – Rhonda’s pet robot
One thing you’ll immediately notice is that almost all characters in this movie are puppets. The only characters played by actual people are Uncle Donny and Jefferson, this being a change from the first movie where the only puppet was Turkie himself. This allows for more sight-gags, such as a character’s arm being pulled off and being sewn back on, or one puppet “digitally stimulating the anus” of another puppet to open a space vortex, while avoiding an NC-17 rating. I found that this really added a different dynamic to the movie. In the original, it was a group of people running from a killer puppet. In ThanksKilling 3, it’s one or two people living in what seems to be a world filled with puppets.
A lot of people I’ve seen talk about this movie are saying that the characters from the first movie are what made it great. Well, dumbshits, they died in the first movie. So I don’t know what you wanted them to do in this one.
In fact, a lot of things in this movie are different than the original, for better and worse.
The music in this film is goddamn amazing. I can say with confidence that as soon as I get my next paycheck, I’m picking up the soundtrack (available on both Amazon and iTunes). I enjoyed the music from ThanksKilling, but this is a whole new level of awesome. The music is epic and does an incredible job of building atmosphere and creating mood throughout ThanksKilling 3. There’s even a song towards the end that is very reminiscent of “Dead Best Friend” from the original, almost as a tribute of sorts.
The sequel’s vastly increased budget of $100k, compared to the original’s $3500, means that production values have risen greatly. ThanksKilling 3 has the same look and feel as most Hollywood “big-budget” films. Also, this movie actually has special effects, which is a nice change. I really enjoyed the option to purchase this movie in HD, something not offered by the original.
The story that drives ThanksKilling 3 is much more outlandish than it’s predecessor, if you can believe it. I really enjoyed the plot element of ThanksKilling 3 being the story of Turkie going to find the last remaining copy of ThanksKilling 2. I felt like that actually fit well with Turkie’s character. However, with taking creative risks, you always have to be aware that they might not succeed. The movie is funny and entertaining in ways that are vastly different from what made the original ThanksKilling successful. At times, it risks alienating those original fans for the chance at gaining a wider audience. Does it accomplish this? Personally, I enjoyed the sequel, but I watched it with someone who ended up absolutely hating it. It wouldn’t surprise me if the fans and critics were 50-50 on this movie.
Overall, I definitely feel like ThanksKilling 3 took some big risks and for the most part, they seem to have paid off. ThanksKilling 3 is funny, entertaining, and very well-made. However, because of the differences between this and the original ThanksKilling, the same audience that enjoyed the first movie, may not be the same audience that appreciates this one. If you’re a fan of the original ThanksKilling, or just a campy horror movie fan in general, I recommend you check out ThanksKilling 3, available on Amazon and iTunes.
I think ThanksKilling 3 changed my life.
I personally loved the risks that it took, although I think they mostly fell on deaf ears. Most people just wanted more people getting killed by Turkie with funny one-liners. Jordan Downey went in a different direction which is something that can't be said about most sequels in Hollywood.
I got to the soundtrack off iTunes too, couldn't resist.