In It’s A Wonderful Knife, it’s Christmas Eve in the town of Angel Falls and a year has passed since local business man Henry Waters dressed up as the masked Angel killer and began murdering townsfolk. Within this past year, Winnie Carruthers has had to live with thoughts about that night, how her best friend was murdered, and how she was solely responsible for bringing Waters’ killing spree to an end.
But if thoughts about Waters weren’t enough to contend with, Winnie is also experiencing problems in her home life. Her parents treat her like a second class child, her boyfriend is cheating on her, and no one will talk about how she stopped the Angel killer in his tracks.
Upset and frustrated with her situation, Winnie starts to wonder if everyone would be better off if she was never born. And as she says these thoughts out loud something strange begins to happen.
Much to Winnie’s surprise and shock, past events have suddenly altered and she now exists in a reality where she was never born. As a result, Henry Waters is still alive, the Angel killer was never stopped, and Angel Falls has been terrorised by the masked assailant for an entire year.
Directed by Tyler MacIntyre, It’s A Wonderful Knife stars Jane Widdop, Joel McHale, Justin Long, Katharine Isabelle, and William B. Davis. The movie is a reality-bending slasher, which puts a new spin on the It’s A Wonderful Life story, and if you wish to check it out the film is now streaming on Shudder.
Similar to movies such as Happy Death Day, Freaky, and Totally Killer, It’s A Wonderful Knife is a concept horror which takes various slasher tropes (a teen heroine, a masked killer, etc) and wraps them around a quirky premise. The film still serves up multiple kills, but rather than just being your average stalk-and-slash picture, it offers up something a little more.
In this case, the movie revolves around the question: What would happen if one supposedly insignificant person didn’t exist in a horror story? It’s A Wonderful Knife then demonstrates how removing Winnie Carruthers from the story impacts the lives of everyone around her.
In terms of its premise, It’s A Wonderful Knife is quite interesting and also quite likeable. Sure, the ‘what if’ scenario isn’t an original concept, but it is fun to see it utilised within the confines of a slasher movie and this gives It’s A Wonderful Knife an edge.
The movie also benefits from a good lead in Jane Widdop as Winnie, as well as strong support from a few well-known faces. Fans of the horror genre will be more than pleased to see the likes of William B. Davis (The X-Files), Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps), and Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers) amongst the cast, and this adds a little bit of extra enjoyment to the film.
However, while It’s A Wonderful Knife is decent stuff, and there is fun to be had, it never quite hits the high mark it’s aiming for. At times, the film isn’t as humorous as it clearly wants to be, the story doesn’t catch in the way it should, and in general it lacks the right amount of punch, especially in the scares department.
These are all things which hold it back, and stop it from being Grade A material. They don’t completely derail the film, but they do bring it down a notch and stop it from fulfilling its potential.
If you can overlook some of the clunkier aspects of It’s A Wonderful Knife, as well as the persistent feeling it should be a bit better than it is, there is still much to enjoy. The film’s desire to prioritise its central character over a need for blood and gore is quite refreshing, and the central performances help to paper over a few cracks.
However, do lower your expectations. It’s not up there with the aforementioned Happy Death Day or Freaky, although it is better than Totally Killer.
So, while not the genre classic it should be, It’s A Wonderful Knife still makes a good stab at delivering a holiday horror. It does stumble in places, but it makes some good recoveries too and the end result is decent enough.
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