It’s a Wonderful Knife

Its a Wonderful Knife (2023)
Directed by: Tyler MacIntyre
Written by: Michael Kennedy
Starring: Cassandra Naud and William B. Davis, Jane Widdop, Jess McLeod, Joel McHale, Justin Long, Katherine Isabelle

The much loved Frank Capra seasonal classic gets the horror comedy redo, with mixed results….

In an age where THE FINAL GIRLS is still a much loved slasher and the likes of HAPPY DEATH DAY and FREAKY has won the hearts of slasher fans, its only fitting that the much loved Frank Capra classic “Its A Wonderful Life” gets the horror treatment, with the word Knife, replacing Life and an all in white blood thirsty bogeyman, taking centre stage from James Stewart.

Premise is simple, even though there is are lot going on for the viewer to digest.?Winnie (Jane Widdop), is the final girl of sorts, who in the bright opening and the best part of the whole film confronts and unmasks the killer to a stunned town, saves her brother Jimmy (Aiden Howard), but suffers the loss of her best friend Cara (Hana Huggins).

A year passes and Winnie is not the same person she was since the incident.?Her relationship with her father David (Joel McHale) is strained, she feels alone and one night while standing looking up to the Northern Lights, she makes a fateful wish that she was never born.?Of course, by some magical forces, her wish is granted and she awakes in a town, where no one knows her, but most importantly the killer is back and in the mood for even more murderous mayhem.

Having the killer unmasked in the opening set-piece is quite a clever move and provides some moments of twists and turns that delights at times, even through the plot itself is a tad too heavy for a normal slasher flick as it struggles under the weight of its own establishment of its plot

The stand out though is Justin Long whose glowing orange tan is the most scariest part of the film and plays Mayor Henry Waters like he has just leapt from a Scooby Doo cartoon.?He’s an absolute delight and the film is lesser when he’s not on the screen, even though Widdop is quite charming and does the vital ingredient all good horror films need in that we care for what happens to her, especially as the budding friendship with Bernie (Jess McLeod), brings a much needed heartbeat to proceedings.

Despite the classy killer design, the kills itself may bring the gore, but they not near imaginative to make it standout among all the other slasher films out there and even for its small running time, the film does feel a lot longer, as the plot races towards the expected outcome.

All said and done, director Tyler MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls) delivers a decent offering for fans looking for something easy to watch, but unlike Capra’s much loved classic, this horror redo will be long forgotten in 70 years time…..

Rating: