A feel-good slasher for Christmas with a fun twits and romance. 

• Entertainment factor: ★★★★☆
• Gore factor: ★★☆☆☆
• Slasher factor: ★★★☆☆
• Fun factor: ★★★☆☆
• Feel-good factor: ★★★★☆
• Fantasy factor: ★★★★☆
• Christmas factor: ★★★★★

It’s a Wonderful Knife feels like a Hallmark Christmas slasher. But this time we don’t get to guess who the killer is although there’s a twist. Instead there’s a wonderful Christmas message that everybody matters. It stars Jane Widdop, Jess McLeod, Justin Long. It’s directed by Tyler Macntyre and written by Michael Kennedy. 

Duration 1h 27 m

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Plot

It’s Christmas in Angel Falls but Winnie’s father David has to work Christmas Eve for Henry Waters, the CEO of Waters Industry who wants to build a huge shopping mall. But there’s one house that stands in his way, and the owner Roger Evans doesn’t want to sell. That night Winnie goes to a party with her best friend Cara, Roger’s granddaughter. An uninvited guest also shows up, dressed as an Angel and starts to kill people, among which Cara. Then the killer goes after Winnie and her brother Jimmy. But after a fight Winnie manages to electrocute the killer and it is revealed to be Henry Waters himself.

A year later it’s Christmas again and Winnie’s father has taken over the company. Their family thrives but Winnie still mourns Cara and can’t believe they all moved on and pretend like nothing happened. When she also finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her with her other friend, she goes outside and wishes she was never born. The sky is illuminated by the Aurora Borealis and her wish comes true. 

Now she is going to find out what Angel Falls looks like if she hadn’t been born. She finds herself in a gloomy, dark town where all hope is gone and the Angel Killer is on a killing spree the whole past year. Together with a new friend she tries to kill the killer again and to get home.

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Short Review

It’s not a conventional slasher. It’s very early revealed in the film who the killer is. Or is he? It’s not about unmasking and escaping the killer, although there is a twist regarding the killer in this alternate reality. The film is a new slasher take on the old classic Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). Now Winnie is about to find out what kills she has prevented and on top of that she makes a new friend who becomes a valuable part of her life, Bernie, whom she otherwise never had befriended. 

Although the kills in the beginning are brutal and gory and a candy cane is even used as a murder weapon, the focus lies on feel-good comedy and a Christmas lesson.

In a new dark Angel Falls where everybody is used to the killings, Winnie finds her own “Clarence” to guide her through this new town and to catch a killer. Bernie is called Weirdo by the whole school and isn’t accepted by anyone. While Winnie is the main character, Bernie is just as important. She’s not just a sidekick but in this reality she acts as the main character who tries to find out who the killer is. Winnie has to learn the lesson that her life matters, even more than she realized, but Bernie has to learn the same lesson as well. 

A story that revolves around alternate realities, by time traveling or making a wish to never been born, results in seeing your family in a different light. Winnie finds her family completely changed and not everybody has made it to the next year. The only one who is still pretty much herself is her cool aunt Gale. Her mother and father are completely different people and that feels a bit weird to make a total personality change, but there’s something more to it. 

The film not only has a Hallmark vibe but also a fairytale vibe. Due to Winnies wish the world has changed and therefore the film has a  supernatural/fantasy element. This alternate reality also has a supernatural element in it, because her father and all the other townspeople are behaving like drones, like Winnie puts it. That adds to the fairytale vibe and is quite fitting in a Christmas atmosphere where a lesson has to be learned. 

The film revolves around two girls who have given up on Christmas and on life, but in the end find each other and the joy of living and celebrating Christmas. The film leaves us with a great message and girl power and a feel-good ending. The only thing that grates is that the killings of the previous year are all too easily forgotten by Winnie after she has learned her lesson. 

It’s a Wonderful Life is a feel-good slasher with likable main characters, a fun twist, and offers great entertainment for Christmas for those who are not into full-on horror at Christmas but do want some gore and mild horror.