IT'S A WONDERFUL KNIFE (2023)

Studio:    RLJE Films/Shudder
Director: Tyler MacIntyre
Writer:   Michael Kennedy
Producer: Seth Caplan, Michael Kennedy, Daniel Bekerman
Stars:    Jane Widdop, Jess McLeod, Joel McHale, Katharine Isabelle, William B. Davis, Justin Long

Review Score:

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Summary:

A despondent wish on Christmas Eve inexplicably transports a young woman to an alternate timeline where she must save her small hometown from a vicious serial killer.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

On Christmas Eve, controversial businessman Henry Waters hosts the annual tree lighting ceremony for the small town of Angel Falls with his trophy wife Evelyn and underachieving brother Buck. Afterward, Henry pulls away realtor David Carruthers from his wife Judy, teenage daughter Winnie, and Winnie's brother Jimmy so David can pay a visit to Roger Evans with him.

As the town's last remaining holdout, Henry and David try to convince Roger to sell his home so Henry can build a massive commercial development. Roger steadfastly refuses. Later that night, a masked killer in a white robe who comes to be known as 'The Angel' slits Roger's throat.

At the Carruthers house, Judy hosts her visiting sister Gale Prescott and Gale's wife Karen Simmons. Meanwhile, Roger's granddaughter Cara Evans drives Winnie Carruthers to a party at Winnie's boyfriend Robbie Olenger's house. Winnie's brother Jimmy and Cara's romantic interest Eddie eventually join them. Winnie tries to be friendly with Bernie Simon, an ostracized girl everyone calls 'Weirdo,' but Darla Berlin interrupts.

The Angel kills Eddie while Eddie and Cara kiss outside. The party erupts in panic when Cara flees back to the house only to be viciously slaughtered in front of everyone. The Angel attempts to kill the two Carruthers siblings, but Winnie saves her brother by electrocuting the Angel with jumper cables. Winnie unmasks the dead killer to find Henry Waters underneath.

One year later, Winnie disappointedly discovers she was not accepted to NYU. On Christmas Eve, Winnie chastises her family for favoring Jimmy due to his new business partnership with their father David, and further criticizes the entire town for largely ignoring what happened the previous year. Winnie then attends Robbie's annual party to find he has been carrying on a secret affair with Darla behind Winnie's back. Following an interaction with Bernie, Winnie storms off alone.

Underneath an aurora borealis, Winnie wishes she were never born. Inexplicably, Winnie transports to an alternate timeline where she never existed and the Angel killer is still on the loose, having killed more than two dozen people throughout the year. Buck Waters is now the town's sheriff. Henry Waters is now mayor and owns virtually every building and business in Angel Falls. Confused and shocked, Winnie rushes to the Carruthers house where she learns her mother Judy is now a drunk who openly has a sidepiece named Wyatt Stone, her brother Jimmy was murdered last year since she wasn't there to save him, the Angel also killed Aunt Gale's wife Karen, and her father David insists he does not have a daughter.

At Robbie's house party, Winnie discovers the town's teens are now drug-addicted burnouts. She also learns Robbie and Darla have been in a relationship for three years. While the Angel murders a stoned partygoer outside, Winnie finds a high school yearbook that confirms she never existed there.

Winnie convinces Bernie they are the only two loners who can stop the Angel since no one else seems to care. Bernie reveals she has been conducting her own investigation into the killings since they started one year earlier. Winnie tells Bernie that Henry Waters is the killer, and the kids who continue to be killed are from families who owned businesses that Henry ultimately purchased. Winnie tries explaining what happened to her on the two timelines, but Bernie suspects Winnie could be the killer until the Angel breaks in to attack them both.

Bernie and Winnie flee to the movie theater where Bernie works. The two of them take a liking to one another as they speculate on Winnie's situation and fall asleep watching Christmas movies.

The next morning, Bernie shows Winnie that she spent the night researching the aurora borealis from Winnie's wish. Based on local folklore that says the lights are the spirit of someone who died violently, Bernie theorizes it was Henry Waters who somehow sent Winnie to this world and she needs to kill him before the aurora fades away so she can return to her reality.

Winnie uses a personal story to convince Aunt Gale of her real identity in order to be let inside the Carruthers house with Bernie. During her ensuing confrontation with David, Winnie tries to tell her father that Henry Waters is the Angel, but David seemingly refuses to believe his boss killed Jimmy.

After David angrily dismisses her as not his daughter, Winnie regroups downstairs with Bernie and Gale. The Angel suddenly kills Judy and her lover Wyatt. Winnie eventually subdues the killer, but is shocked to find David Carruthers under the mask.

Winnie, Bernie, and Gale retreat back to the movie theater where they set a trap to bait David. The three women also discuss how Jimmy's murder must have broken David, which in turn allowed Henry to control him. Bernie adds that Winnie probably now has to kill her deranged father to return to her timeline.

As part of an annual tradition where they sneak in, Robbie and Darla unexpectedly arrive at the theater. The Angel soon enters and kills Gale, Darla, and Robbie. Winnie finally impales the killer through his chest and confirms his identity as David.

Believing Winnie can now return home, Bernie accompanies her to the aurora. Bernie confesses she was going to kill herself before Winnie showed up and convinced Bernie that her life mattered. Winnie wishes for her life back, but nothing happens.

Realizing Henry must die too, Winnie and Bernie find Henry hosting an event where he publicly murders his brother Buck in front of entranced townspeople he has held hypnotized through unknown powers. Winnie confronts Henry with the news of David's death. A fight ensues between Winnie, Henry, Bernie, and Henry's wife Evelyn. Bernie finally stabs Henry, which frees the townspeople from his influence. Bernie and Winnie then kiss right before Winnie wakes back in her original timeline.

Winnie begins enjoying the holiday with her restored family, but immediately rushes to Bernie's house when she remembers Bernie's plan to commit suicide. On the way, Winnie runs into Robbie and Darla and blesses their relationship. When Winnie arrives at her house, Bernie surprisingly reveals she remembers everything that happened in the other timeline. Winnie and Bernie joyfully embrace and make plans to spend the holiday together.

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Review:

Oprah recommends giving a book 100 pages. A new TV show usually takes two or three episodes. With its faux commercial featuring a spray-tanned Justin Long bulging his eyes and karate kicking in slow-motion like he's doing an SNL political ad parody, "It's a Wonderful Knife" only needs its first 40 seconds to fry up a flavor that tells your taste buds whether it's worth forging ahead, or if you should turn it off before venturing further.

Be wary of jumping to conclusions too quickly though. "It's a Wonderful Knife" qualifies as a horror-comedy, but the "comedy" categorization might inspire the wrong idea. By applying an entertaining air of casual flippancy to its terror tale take on Frank Capra's classic, the movie sends a message that warns "don't take this with logic-minded seriousness" since the plot involves a huge helping of disbelief-suspending fantasy.

Yet you won't find anyone tearing off one-liners or pratfalling on bloody banana peels. It's not that kind of comedy. In keeping with the more tethered tone expected of a project that comes from the director of "Tragedy Girls" (review here) and the writer of "Freaky" (review here), "It's a Wonderful Knife" traffics in surreal splatter and social satire as opposed to gag-heavy jokes or silly Farrelly Brothers setups.

Also as expected given the premise, actor Jane Widdop is to Winnie Carruthers what Jimmy Stewart was to George Bailey. On the cusp of college, teenager Winnie lives in the small town of Angel Falls, where blowhard businessman Henry Waters (Justin Long) seeks to extend his stranglehold on local property by pushing people out of their homes with help from Winnie's realtor father David (Joel McHale). On Christmas Eve, the last holdout standing in the way of Henry's massive megacomplex tells the unscrupulous developer to go stuff his stocking. Later, a white-robed masked murderer who resembles an angel slits that man's throat to kick off a crosstown killing spree.

You'd think stopping the slaughter would earn Winnie a medal. Instead, one year passes with the forgotten hero only sliding further down into the dumps. Angel Falls has oddly moved on from the murders. Her family values her brother so much more that he gets a tricked-out truck for Christmas and she gets a lousy tracksuit. Adding insults to injuries, Winnie receives word she didn't get into college and her boyfriend has been hooking up with a gal pal behind her back.

It's enough to make a young woman wish she'd never been born, which is exactly what Winnie does, and exactly what happens. Magically transported to an alternate timeline, Winnie finds that without her intervention, 'The Angel' has been terrorizing her hometown for a full year. Dozens of new deaths brought despair, drug use, and opportunities for Henry Waters to take over Angel Falls. Winnie now needs to stop the killer one more time, except she won't get any help from her drunken mother, distracted father, or former friends who think she's a crackpot on crazy pills. To return to her reality, Winnie must get creative while finding an unexpected ally whose life will soon change just as drastically as Winnie's.

Airing Festivus grievances with the film first, it takes Winnie entirely too long to fully accept her situation, particularly when it's later confirmed that the original "It's a Wonderful Life" does exist in this weird world. There's also a wrinkle, not quite a twist, that most (if not all) of the audience will guess well before it's revealed. "It's a Wonderful Knife" mostly moves at an unhindered pace, which makes it more puzzling that momentum hits such storytelling snags from characters being unusually unable to recognize tropes that are plainly obvious to the viewer.

Although the Naughty side also includes entries like a strangely Stepford-themed finale that comes across closer to a rushed copout than a clever climax, the movie's Nice list runs a lot longer. The well-stacked cast balances fresh faces with a few familiar ones such as Long, McHale, Katharine Isabelle, and William B. Davis sans a Morley cigarette in his mouth. Comparatively speaking, this might be director Tyler MacIntyre's most subdued effort in spite of the far-out fiction, yet he continues to demonstrate a deft hand at blending horror, humor, and thoughtful human drama in reasonable amounts that mix well together more often than they cause a throat to choke.

Drink up the movie like a light Christmas cocktail spiking its horror highball with jamon iberico-washed bourbon for just a slight hint of ham. A relative dearth of narrative complications means "It's a Wonderful Knife" goes down smooth and easy at just 82-ish minutes. In a world chock full of shared universes, planned trilogies, and unnecessary sequels, it's refreshing for a seemingly one-and-done movie to come without an end-credits coda, future film tease, or franchising agenda that forcibly pushes 'The Angel' as "the next horror icon." Appealing ingredients like these turn "It's a Wonderful Knife's" festively fun frights into a welcome palate cleanser during a season when it's easy to overeat another platter of seen-before classics and feel-good yuletide romcoms instead.

Review Score: 75

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