PopHorror Let's Get Scared
‘Tis the season to get bloody. Every year amidst the family-friendly parade of feel-good Christmas cinema, we get a few fresh attempts at holiday horror sprinkled in. Among the deluge of formulaic but popular Hallmark entries mixed with the yearly classics on repeat, someone inevitably finds a new reason for old Saint Nick to go on a killing spree. It’s A Wonderful Knife is the newest member of the ho-ho-horror Christmas club, but it takes a different approach to get there. So pour a glass of eggnog, fill up on Christmas cookies, and let’s see if this movie goes on the ‘naughty’ or ‘nice’ list.
It’s A Wonderful Knife is written by Michael Kennedy (Freaky 2020) and directed by Tyler MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls 2017), It stars Jane Widdop (Yellowjackets TV Series 2021), Jess McLeod (One Of Us Is Lying TV Series 2021) and Joel McHale (Becky 2020). The story follows Winnie, an ambitious girl whose life falls apart after she destroys and unmasks the town’s “Angel” killer. After she loses everything, she wishes under an Aurora Borealis that she’d never existed. This sends her into an alternate timeline in which nobody knows who she is, and the “Angel” killer is still on the loose. Winnie has to find a way to get back to her reality before it’s too late, with the killer hot on her trail.
If the plot sounds familiar, that’s because it is. It’s A Wonderful Knife is obviously a humorous and genre-bent take on the 1946 James Stewart classic It’s a Wonderful Life. Both films examine the circumstances of how life would change without one person, with the moral of the story being to “appreciate the life you have, as it could always be worse.” This movie also cleverly follows the recent trend of alternate universes inside of the teen horror subgenre, ala Happy Death Day, Freaky, and the recently released Totally Killer (read our review here). This movie is blazingly paced, as the ninety-minute runtime flies by and every scene feels like it has a place.
It’s A Wonderful Knife does a nice job of fleshing out its principal characters and giving the audience some big-name genre actors to enjoyably chew the scenery. We get some family tragedy, some naturally developing romance, and some genuinely delivered humor, all together in a well-wrapped package. While Christmas isn’t always at the forefront of the plot in this film, the color grading and soundtrack remind us of the season. This subgenre may have a shelf life, but this entry surely felt fun, clever, heartfelt, well-written, and easy to watch. It’s A Wonderful Knife hits theaters on November 10th and is distributed by RLJE Films and Shudder.
