Fear the Thanksgiving Leftovers: Our Recommended Collection of Food Horror

Thanksgiving is over, and while most of us couldn’t see our families this year, that didn’t stop us from cooking the bird or making an insane amount of food for the feast of a holiday. One might guess, even if you tried to cook for a smaller crowd, or just for one, leftovers made it to your refrigerator.

In fearing the possibility of food gone to waste, or just the fear of having to continue to eat the same thing for a week straight, we decided to cover some food horror movies for thought. These movies probably won’t make anyone’s situation better, but what a time to reminisce.

Destiny’s Picks

Beetlejuice (1988)

While not everyone thinks of Beetlejuice as a “food horror” type of movie, I can’t stop thinking about the popular dinner party scene where everyone’s food comes to life and the very characters most of us dislike are pulled down forcibly to their plates. It’s rather humorous, but also pretty terrifying if you ever thought your food would try to eat you.

Beetlejuice, 1988

Cabin Fever (2002)

Playing the devil’s advocate, I never really thought that Cabin Fever could be considered culinary horror, until I recently rewatched the film. Forgetting the ending entirely, it’s pretty insane that the flesh-eating virus, which we learn throughout the film was passed along through contaminated river water, is actually used at a child’s lemonade stand, and even bottled at the local grocery store. Although the movie ends just as it is approaching the cusp of a major outbreak, it pulls you back and makes you think twice about where your source of drinks come from and what brands you buy.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Yes, my internal pull to true crime can’t turn a blind eye from this film either. Although the movie isn’t completely nonfiction—primarily based on the story of Alfredo Ballí Treviño—it does turn the stomach thinking about someone who prefers to eat people over, say, your traditional Thanksgiving turkey or even a steak for that matter. Yes, beans and liver has never sounded good to me after seeing this movie.

Ande’s Picks

The Stuff (1985)

Larry Cohen’s absurd horror-comedy about a mysterious new dessert that is flying off the shelves, The Stuff is a guilty pleasure that thickly lays on its critique of a consumerist culture that buys first and asks questions later. So before you dive into grandma’s new pumpkin pie recipe, make sure you ask her if she knows where the new ingredients really came from.

The Platform (2019)

Nothing quite says “Thanksgiving” like stuffing your gluttonous face with more food than your stomach has any right to holding at one time. This is essentially the conceit behind Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s The Platform, a tense film that takes place in a mysterious vertical prison that lowers its prisoners’ meals (all at once) from a single central platform each day. Except you never know which floor you’ll wake up on from month-to-month, so those near the top gorge themselves, leaving only scraps—if anything—for the unfortunate souls on the lower floors. 

Dumplings, 2004

Dumplings (2004)

Dumplings, a bona fide food horror from Hong Kong director Fruit Chan, is decidedly not for everyone. A local woman known as Aunt Mei is sought after by aging actress Mrs. Li, as Mei is rumored to know a secret dumpling recipe that has the ability to restore youth and beauty. The recipe works, but the film soon devolves into increasingly depraved discoveries that I certainly can’t recommend to anyone with a weak stomach.

Laura’s Picks

Gretel & Hansel (2020)

Though not as strong as I hoped, Gretel and Hansel delves into an alternate retelling of the classic fairy tale that atmospherically matches just how dark these old stories truly were. Oz Perkins' directorial fingerprint is in the very blood and bones of this one, but the script only has his influence, not his direct writing. Though this causes the story to falter, the way this film engages with food makes you really start to question how little we know about where our own meals come from. Remember: you are what you eat.

Martin (1977)

Vampire stories are true narrative studies of what happens when our appetites consume us. George A. Romero's Martin hinges around chilling scenes that induce prey fear, and flickering snapshots between Old World religious beliefs and the lived reality of a vampire haunting decaying suburbia. Martin returns to the roots of what makes vampires—and their appetites—so terrifying.

Thankskilling (2008)

Though Thanksgiving is over, it's always time for a holiday movie that makes you wonder if it was actually real or some food-induced fever dream you had at three in the morning. (Bear in mind, though, that the humor is exactly what you should expect for 2008, warts and all.) Thankskilling is the ridiculous, campy side of horror I love so much, and if you need a laugh (or to question your own sanity after seeing how much leftovers are left over in your fridge), Thankskilling takes the cake. 

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Article written by The Academic Horror Writers League

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