Following the first Thanksgiving in 1621, a topless Pilgrim girl is chased and slain with a tomahawk wielded by an evil, demonic turkey. Centuries later, five college students—Kristen, Johnny, Ali, Billy, and Darren—head home for Thanksgiving with their families. After Kristen calls her father, the local sheriff, the car overheats in Crawberg (formerly Crawl Berg), forcing the group to camp out for the night.
As they settle in, Darren recounts the settler-era folktale of Feathercloud, a Native American shaman dishonored by hedonistic pilgrim Chuck Langston, one of Billy’s ancestors. Outraged, Feathercloud supposedly used necromancy to conjure Turkie, a menacing spirit that is said to appear every five-hundred-and-five years to slaughter all Caucasians he encounters. The legend plants a creeping sense of dread, especially as the campers notice strange signs around them.
Elsewhere, a dog owned by a hermit named Oscar urinates on a miniature totem pole, desecrating it and unleashing Turkie prematurely. The demon turkey retaliates by killing the dog, and Oscar vows vengeance as Turkie races off, frightening Kristen. Kristen later warns the others about her encounter, but they laugh it off—until a baby rabbit, seemingly pecked to death, is dumped into their campfire, hinting that the danger may be closer than they think.
The next day, Turkie flags down a vehicle. When the driver propositions him, Turkie shoots the man in the head and hijacks the car. By nightfall, the students are home with their families; Johnny tries to reconnect with his estranged father, Johnny’s Dad Terry Reagan, but Turkie attacks him, killing Johnny’s parents before Johnny escapes and rejoins the group with the exception of Ali, who is having sex with her boyfriend, Ali Natasha Cordova. Turkie discovers the lovers, slits Greg’s throat, and then rapes an unaware Ali before snapping her neck, a brutal sequence that leaves the friends reeling.
After discovering Ali’s remains, the survivors rush to Kristen’s house to seek help from her father, hoping his library might hold clues about Turkie. Turkie reaches Kristen’s home first and tricks Kristen’s father into letting him in by wearing Groucho glasses. A tense standoff unfolds as the group waits for Kristen, and Turkie shares an awkward snack with the sheriff—before murdering him when he mistakes Turkie for a duck. Kristen and her friends arrive and are admitted by Turkie, who now sports the sheriff’s severed face as a gruesome disguise. Darren finds a book about Turkie that mentions a magic talisman that can kill him when removed, though the rest of the instructions are coded.
Billy stumbles upon Turkie disposing of the sheriff’s body, and the crew manages to seize the talisman, but Turkie escapes again. Billy storms off, while Darren decodes the passage and learns that Turkie must be burned at the stake after a backwards-dem anded prayer. Outside, Turkie possesses Billy and forces his body to carry out the ritual’s dark mechanics. Billy dies in Darren’s arms as they reminisce about better times. The trio—Darren, Kristen, and Johnny—track Turkie to his tipi and begin the ritual, but Turkie breaks free and is shot by Oscar.
Oscar leaves, and the teens return to Kristen’s house, unaware that the dumpster where Turkie was blasted contains radioactive waste that reanimates him. Believing Turkie is dead, the survivors resume their night, with Johnny and Kristen confessing their feelings for each other. Darren, meanwhile, slips into the kitchen for a snack, only to have Turkie tear out his tongue and heart. Johnny hurries to find Darren’s body, where Turkie stabs Johnny with an electric knife. Kristen slaps Turkie and races to a shed with a badly wounded Johnny; Turkie chases her, but she uses an aerosol flamethrower to set him ablaze, sending him into a pile of wood as Johnny dies from the electric knife.
Kristen then grabs a pipe and knocks Turkie into the flames, while Oscar steps in with a quiet nod of approval. Kristen’s Thanksgiving meal finally arrives, and the cooked turkey on the table suddenly comes to life. In Turkie’s voice, the bird yells, “Do I smell sequel, biotch [sic]?!” and the family is left to reckon with the brutal, lingering threat of the legend that refuses to stay dead.
