Film Review

It’s a Wonderful Knife (2023)— a campy yuletide horror show

After saving her town from a killer, Winnie’s life is less than wonderful. But after wishing she’d never been born, she finds herself in a parallel universe where, without her, things are much worse.

Michael Kennedy, the writer of Freaky (2020), and director Tyler MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls), team up for this campy and bloody holiday slasher genre mash-up, a retelling of the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). With modest aspirations to entertain horror fans coming down from Halloween, this horror-comedy mostly succeeds in what it sets out to do.

Set in the fictional small town of Angel Falls, It’s a Wonderful Knife efficiently establishes its Final Girl-turned-George Bailey stand-in over the first 20-minutes. Winnie Caruthers (Jane Widdop) and her family watch the town’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony presided over by resident corrupt corporate type Henry Waters (Justin Long in a spray tan, blonde wig, coloured contacts, and blinding veneers). Waters then tears…