Although “Thanksgiving” meets the quota of what a holiday slasher should do, it’s a bit frustrating that it has no aspirations to carve a fresher take from the bones of its subgenre –– sacrificing characterization for carnage and proving that a great idea doesn’t always translate to a great feature-length film.

Tabloids will never be fully ethical or accurate, but we can try to be respectful.

Some guy Thoreau once said, “all men recognize … the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.” The right to refuse...