Bah! Humbug! The ashes of All Hallows’ Eve had barely settled into the muck and the mire, yet there I was, heading to the theater to watch a Christmas movie. As someone who wishes to remain Santa-free until the clock strikes twelve on Thanksgiving night, only something as irresistible as a genre-bending slasher could drive me to such madness. And so, on a crisp Southern Californian 80° afternoon, I was seated as Nicole Kidman ushered in my holiday season. And wouldn’t you know it? My coal-black heart grew three sizes that day.
A Gory Retelling of a Holiday Classic
You need a twisted mind to concoct a retelling of the beloved 1946 holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life and deck its halls with gore and expletives, and luckily, we’ve found two. Dark elves and horror-comedy connoisseurs Michael Kennedy (writer of body-swap slasher Freaky) and Tyler MacIntyer (director of the delightfully mean-spirited Tragedy Girls) have melded their minds to give us quite an unexpected gift. Instead of despondent businessman George Bailey and his guardian angel Clarence, we have naive teen Winnie Carruthers (Jane Widdop, Yellowjackets) and The Angel, a masked killer hell-bent on making it a very black Christmas. Descending upon the picturesque town of Angel Falls one fateful Christmas Eve, the murderous celestial is stopped dead in its tracks by Winnie herself – but not before hacking through quite a few of her friends and leaving her shaken to the core. One year later, Winnie is a shell of her former self and wishes she’d never been born, only to find her wish granted, as reality shifts into a much darker version where The Angel has yet to be slain.
A Witty Blend of Horror and Holiday Tropes
Much like Freaky, It’s a Wonderful Knife is a refreshingly witty take on a familiar tale with a dash of supernatural spice. Setting the film’s opening during a “final party” of sorts, offing the killer, and revealing their identity within the first fifteen minutes is just one of the many ways it plays with genre tropes – both horror and holiday – and the story from which it’s inspired. Despite this third-act prologue, Knife consistently finds ways to surprise and delight, so don’t think you have it all figured out before the title card.
Queer-Inclusive Horror for All
And speaking of unexpected delights, the entire film is casually queer in the most cheerful way. Horror is for the outcasts or those looking for alternative fare, and Knife is all about making outsiders feel welcome. Winnie’s gay brother Jimmy (Aiden Howard) is the school’s star quarterback and golden child of his family; her aunt Gale (Katharine Isabelle) is dating quite the female hottie, and a mysterious oddball is somehow mixed up in Winnie’s adventure. The queerness of these characters exists without explanation, and not a creature is stirring or crying “woke” while the boys are a-kissing. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of tragic queer stories, so Santa hats off to the crew for making gay happy again!
Scream-Inspired Slasher Thrills
It’s no secret that gay people love the Scream franchise and should be paid for all the free promo they give it. It should, therefore, come as no surprise to learn that slasher guru Michael Kennedy named Winnie’s aunt “Gale Prescott” after the famed franchise heroines and influences of the Wes Craven classics can be seen throughout. Scream 7 will reportedly take place during the holiday season, but Knife beat Ghostface to the punch. This movie’s kills and chase scenes simply scream Scream – there’s no other way to put it. They are brutal and bloody, and MacIntyre’s direction of the stab-happy Angel as it bobs and weaves throughout these sequences is ripped straight from the Ghostface Style Guide. For those familiar with the source material, one scene in particular has a direct homage to Scream 2 waiting just at the bottom of the stairs.
Creative Cinematography and Retro Vibes
Cinematographer Nicholas Piatnik also has some fun of his own, playing with light in genuinely exciting ways and adding a new layer of depth to what would otherwise have been just another kill. The use of technology in Knife likewise stands out in that there is hardly any. Whether intentional or not, the film seems to shy away from tech entirely – save for some choice one-liners – which further allows it to embody the 90s and 00s slashers its creators so admire. Winnie technically doesn’t exist throughout two-thirds of the plot anyway, and I don’t think Verizon has enough cell towers for that.
Balancing Horror and Humor
However, despite all this slasher throwback tomfoolery, Knife isn’t all that scary. If you’re a horror vet, your eyes will light up with excitement, but you’ll be nowhere near the edge of your seat. In that same vein, its comedy is subjective to taste. There are quite a few chuckles and knowing grins to be had, but most won’t be rolling in the aisles. That’s not to say that Kennedy’s script does not balance the tone between genres well because it is quite adept at doing so on the fly, but it doesn’t hammer it home in either direction. Think of it as a playful mix of Scream 2 and 3.
Standout Performances in a Twisted Tale
From Sidney Prescott to Winnie Carruthers, this story is ultimately Jane Widdop’s to carry. She borrows from her time on Yellowjackets in more ways than one, first embodying a less intense version of her meek and devout character, Laura Lee, before allowing Winnie to evolve into some amalgamation of the show’s more brazen survivors. She is believable and charming as someone whose entire life has gone to hell twice, and the movie would suffer if not for her ability to handle the madcap directions it takes her. Likewise, Jess McLeod, as the outcast Bernie, quickly becomes the heart of Angel Falls’ alternate reality. What initially appears to be an odd side character, McLeod allows Bernie to shine as the loveable weirdo and other half to the decidedly logical Winnie. Unfortunately, newly anointed Scream King, Justin Long, did not resonate with me as the nefarious Mayor Waters. His off-the-wall caricature of Joel Osteen meets Jiminy Glick must have been projecting from a third reality of his own because his wavelength did not match that of any other human in the movie.
It’s a Wonderful Knife is A New Holiday Horror Classic
Ultimately, It’s a Wonderful Knife succeeds as a competent holiday slasher with a heart that is rightfully added to the growing holiday horror pantheon. The cast is immediately likable, and when Winnie finds herself in the Silent Hill version of her hometown, it’s equal parts comical and distressing to see what’s become of them. Lessons are learned, hearts are filled, and plenty of perfectly splattered blood is spilled without devolving into a Lacey Chabert Hallmark Channel Original. What’s next in the MKU (Michael Kennedy Universe) of mashup horror is hard to say. Still, hopefully, we’ll get that Freaky Death Day crossover event everyone on the Internet is begging for. Until then, may you discover the joys of It’s a Wonderful Knife and the meaning behind “Aguilerian Thong.”
It’s a Wonderful Knife is in theaters now and streaming on Shudder starting December 1st.