Summary

• Thanksgiving was a critical and box office success in 2023 with an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 84%.
• Borderlands, on the other hand, received negative reviews and was a commercial failure, debuting with a 0% score.
• Eli Roth prioritized Thanksgiving over finishing Borderlands, leading to speculation about his involvement in the latter.

It's evident that Eli Roth made his acclaimed 2023 horror film Thanksgiving at the same time he made Borderlands debuted with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 0% before slightly increasing to its current score of 10% as of the time of writing. Borderlands was Eli Roth's follow-up to Thanksgiving, which received much more praise from audiences and critics alike.

Roth has made several films in Borderlands including Cabin Fever, Hostel, The Green Inferno, Death Wish, and The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Prior to Borderlands, Roth's most poorly-rated movie was 2018's Death Wish starring Bruce Willis which earned a critic score of just 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. He did write the screenplay for the 2016 remake of Cabin Fever which earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 0%, which is technically the worst movie of his career. Considering the caliber of the cast in Borderlands, however, it can arguably be called the biggest letdown of Roth's directorial career.

Eli Roth's Thanksgiving Was A Critical & Box Office Success In 2023

Roth's surprise horror hit earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 84%

Thanksgiving was a critical and commercial success in 2023 and one of the best movies of Roth's directorial career. While the premise of a horror movie set around Thanksgiving sounds simple and even somewhat odd at first, Roth's surprise horror hit earned an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 84%, giving it a Certified Fresh rating. Audiences also enjoyed the film for its shocking entertainment value and its deliverance of gore and suspense. As far as his feature film directorial efforts go, Thanksgiving is certainly considered the best movie of Roth's career, with an equally impressive positive audience score of 80%.

Thanksgiving was also a surprise box office hit, earning a worldwide total of $46.5 million against a production budget of $15 million. While it wasn't the most portable horror movie of the year, the film outperformed box office expectations and surprisingly became considered one of the very best horror movies of the year. The film had a strong opening weekend box office total of $10.3 million after its November 17, 2024 release date. While Roth has certainly made horror movies in the past that haven't entirely worked, Thanksgiving was an exemplary exception that immediately inspired a Thanksgiving sequel.

Borderlands' Reception Is The Complete Opposite Of Thanksgiving's

Thanksgiving is celebrated while Borderlands is mostly hated

Critics praised how enjoyable Thanksgiving was despite being fun and somewhat ridiculous. Candice Federick of The Huffington Post writes in her fresh review, "It checks off a lot of boxes that have been missing from too many genre entries today. Shock value? Check. Gore? Big time." Alison Foreman of IndieWire writes, "Served hot, Roth’s Thanksgiving is so good you’ll lick it off your fingers… or someone else’s." Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com writes in his 3-star review, "While calling it Roth’s best film may not carry the most weight, “Thanksgiving” easily affirms that when his script isn’t simply a pile of guts, he can be a wicked good entertainer."

On the other hand, Borderlands is a massive box office disappointment and has horrible reviews. Allegra Frank of TIME Magazine writes, "Right as Hollywood has started to learn how to successfully adapt games for the screen, Borderlands arrives as a reminder of how not to do it." Jesse Hassenger of The Guardian writes in his 2-star review, "Blanchett, outfitted in sparkly gear and a swoop of bright red hair, deserves credit for not shrinking from a task so far beneath her." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com writes in his 1-star review, "Nothing that works about the games has been adapted intact in this ugly, boring, truly inept piece of filmmaking."

Eli Roth Focused On Making Thanksgiving Instead Of Finishing Borderlands

Roth did not prioritize Borderlands over Thanksgiving

Roth didn't go back for the reshoots on Borderlands because he was doing Thanksgiving instead. According to Deadline, "Roth handed over the reins on two weeks of reshoots to his pal Miller, because he has to get going with Thanksgiving, the horror film based on a mock trailer that Roth made for the Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez Grindhouse film. Roth has not been fired, despite a flurry of speculative reports to the contrary." Seeing how Borderlands turned out, it makes a lot of sense that Roth didn't give a lot of time, effort, or ion into the video game adaptation which he clearly put into his budding Thanksgiving franchise instead.