After saving her small town from a deranged killer, a teen makes a throwaway wish that transports her to a reality where she never existed, and therefore saved no one. Starring Jane Widdop, Joel McHale, and Justin Long, It’s a Wonderful Knife is a wacky holiday slasher that won’t strike up much fear but certainly offers some entertaining moments.
The townspeople of Angel Falls have their quaint Christmas Eve celebrations disrupted by a massacre at the hands of a masked assailant. Winnie (Widdop) witnesses her friends being butchered and in an act to save her brother, successfully takes out the killer.
But a year later, Winnie is not reeling in her heroics. Instead, she is still struggling to process what happened. With the town and her family having moved on, she wishes she was never born.
And when it comes true, she finds herself in an alternate reality where Angel Falls is the hunting ground for the not-so-dead killer, whose body count has mounted.
Directed by Tyler MacIntyre and written by Michael Kennedy, It’s a Wonderful Knife carves out a unique premise that plays off the Christmastime classic It’s a Wonderful Life. It continues a trend of horror-comedies that lean more into a whimsical horror, with fantastical elements to bring something new to the genre.
It certainly delivers some slasher fun and elements all its own — it’s quite distinctive to see a villain who looks so angelic, decked in all white. There are interesting kills, especially in the beginning, and enough outrageous turns to keep viewers hooked.
Mixed with the jolly feels of the holiday, it’s sort of like a Hallmark Christmas film gone mad. Though, it could have leaned into that kitschy-ness more.
It has a strong first and third act, though the middle feels a bit bland at times. It’s missing some of the energy that films like Freaky (also written by Kennedy) or even this year’s Totally Killer had. There were moments where it felt like something was left to be desired, though it still maintained my curiosity for how it would all unfold.
For the most part, It’s a Wonderful Knife delivers the gift of an enjoyable, quirky film. It won’t be the most memorable horror-comedy of the year, and it really felt that Long was underutilized. But it brings just enough worthwhile holiday horror to the seasonal table.
It’s a Wonderful Knife hits theaters on November 10
Jordy Reviews It 
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