Horror Movie Review: It’s a Wonderful Knife (2023)

Coming from director Tyler MacIntyre and writer Michael Kennedy, It’s a Wonderful Knife is a slasher comedy horror movie that embraces the most wonderful time of the year, and pours buckets of blood over it.

A parody/spin on the 1946 Christmas classic film It’s a Wonderful Life, It’s a Wonderful Knife is imaginative, fun, and delightfully festive. It stars Jane Widdop as Winnie Carruthers, a young woman who is able to put an end to a masked killer’s rampage in the town of Angel Falls one Christmas, but is left with horrible mental scaring from the experience.

Even a year later, she is really struggling to get over the deaths and the part she played in ensuring there weren’t more. She has become withdrawn and isolated, and can’t quite believe how the town has just moved on from the horrific events.

Feeling completely alone, feeling like she doesn’t matter, and feeling like she has no future, she ends up wishing upon a rare event for the town, an aurora in the sky. Winnie wishes that she had never been born, and she’s about to find out just what that means.

It’s a Wonderful Life, indeed. Except, in this alternative world, Winnie hasn’t been born. Which means the villain wasn’t stopped and killed by her. The rampage continued and has done ever since. Not only that, but the corrupt mayor Henry Waters (Justin Long) has become somewhat of a dictator and the town has become a shadow of its former self.

Will Winnie be able to return to her own timeline? Will she be able to stop the killer again? Will she learn just how important she was?

That last one there is the most important aspect of It’s a Wonderful Knife as, unlike the movie it takes inspiration from, Winnie’s lesson is not about her good deeds, but rather what she was able to prevent from happening. It’s not about changing the past, but rather seeing a better future. One that involves personal relationships too. Such as those of her parents David (Joel McHale) and Judy (Erin Boyes), her brother Jimmy (Aiden Howard), Aunt Gale (Katharine Isabelle), boyfriend, and even the local outcast, Bernie (Jess McLeod). Yes, It’s a Wonderful Knife has a gooey centre, and plenty of feel-good moments.

Although that stuff balances out a slasher horror with a lot of blood and guts. The killer is ferocious and extremely violent. The actions and mannerisms are very Scream-like, but that’s no surprise as this film was heavily influenced by the beloved series.

Where It’s a Wonderful Knife differentiates itself, aside from the main plot, is with the reveal of just who the killer is within the first quarter of the movie. Yes, the killer is unmasked early on, but be assured that It’s a Wonderful Knife has plenty of twists and turns along the way to keep things interesting. In fact, thanks to a wonderful performance by the killer when unmasked (no spoilers here), the film ends up having an extra level of tension.

That being said, It’s a Wonderful Knife isn’t a scary film, peppering in moments of light comedy and tension-relieving silliness. A lot of it works, some of it doesn’t, but it still makes for a fun watch. Especially as the cast are great, and there’s some real effort made to make the characters feel more real. You’ll care about some of these people, and it makes the sickly-sweet ending all the more palatable because of this.

Overall, a massive amount of credit must be given to It’s a Wonderful Knife for trying to stand out from the Christmas horror pack. It’s a creative watch that will raise a smile, and has a plenty of slasher horror to sate a thirst for blood.