Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		1.5

It's a Wonderful Knife Blu-ray Movie Review

Stink, stank, stunk.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III March 27, 2024

It might actually be possible to infuse well-crafted slasher elements into the pasteurized backdrop of It's a Wonderful Life... but that damn sure didn't happen during Tyler MacIntyre's It's a Wonderful Knife, a fatally inept stab at comedy-horror with little in its corner except for an intriguing premise. Here lies a film that shares almost no recognizable traits with Frank Capra's celebrated classic aside from cursory plot similarities and a few outright swipes, choosing instead to seemingly write the rules of this Hallmark-grade production as it goes along. Nothing makes much sense here, leaving viewers with no choice but to hope It's a Wonderful Knife has an ace up its sleeve during the final act.

It doesn't, sadly, and truth be told the film's final stretch might actually be its most frustrating. But let's rewind: we're first introduced to the town of Angel Falls by way of real estate developer Henry Waters (Justin Long), who's seeking to buy off the homeowner of a historic house to make room for his new luxury shopping center. The homeowner's teenage granddaughter Cara (Hana Huggins) leaves for a Christmas party with her best pal Winnie (Jane Widdop), but tragedy strikes when Cara and others are murdered by a masked attacker who's dressed in white, nicknamed "The Angel", and already killed her poor grandfather moments earlier. Luckily, Winnie ends up exacting revenge on the serial killer via electrocution and unmasks him, realizing that it's none other than Henry Waters, spray tan and all.

Fast-forward a year later: Winnie's down in the dumps after getting a college rejection letter, but even worse is that her family -- including dad David (Joel McHale), a former business partner of Waters -- has immediately moved on from the tragic events of last Christmas and act as if nothing happened. Disgusted by their behavior and a recent breakup with her cheating boyfriend, Winnie gazes wistfully at the Northern Lights above and wishes she'd never been born. As luck and the sloppy script would have it, her wish is granted and she's instantly a stranger in her own hometown... but, like the original Capra film (and Back to the Future II, I guess), Angel Falls has become a cesspool of debauchery and crime under Waters' rule. It's even policed by a new sheriff, Henry's brother Buck (Sean Depner)... but for some strange and never-explained reason, the "Angel" killer is still loose and possibly under a totally different identity.

I'd explain the story more, but to be honest It's a Wonderful Knife is too much a mess to bother detailing. Various elements of Wonderful Life's well-known narrative are slapped on haphazardly, from general character details -- an impossibly evil and power-hungry businessman, the fact that Winnie's dad works in real estate -- to crucial plot points, obviously including the big "never been born" twist. It's sloppily done, can't follow its own barely-defined rules, and also arrives much too early: Capra's film served up a whole 90 minutes of crucial character development and world-building before that sudden left turn, and here Winnie's standing on a bridge inside of 25 minutes. But despite all the numerous fundamental flaws presented here -- gaping plot holes, very little tension, seemingly random twists, bland production design, terrible dialogue -- the worst thing about It's a Wonderful Knife is its paper-thin characters. They undergo little to no character development, which all but ensures that you won't care if or when they get killed.

For a slightly more thorough synopsis and takedown of the film, please see Brian Orndorf's theatrical review.

All told, It's a Wonderful Knife is dangerously close to being a total failure, saved from bottom-of-the-barrel "0.5" territory by a modicum of heart near the end between its two de facto main characters, the other of which is not-so-affectionately nicknamed "Weirdo" (Jess McLeod) and done up to look like John Cazale's long-lost granddaughter in clown makeup. They're all part of a laughably inclusive cast of characters in a forgettable film that's unquestionably one of the least essential I've reviewed this decade. Regardless, this Shudder production arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of RLJ Entertainment in an admittedly well-rounded package that should please (*gasp*) fans of the film.

It's a Wonderful Knife Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bland production design and sporadically bad lighting aside, It's a Wonderful Knife generally looks good on Blu-ray, with this 1080p transfer largely passing muster from start to finish. Source flaws and other limitations can be forgiven but the large majority of this film features decent fine detail, suitable color saturation, and deep black levels with only trace amounts of banding, macro blocking, and other such compression artifacts. It's a Wonderful Knife nonetheless runs fairly smoothly on this dual-layered disc and should look pretty good on any small to medium-sized display.

It's a Wonderful Knife Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix is similarly fine, offering pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a horror film of this type: mostly clear dialogue, plenty of discrete channel activity, a decent dynamic presence for a few needle-drop music cues, and of course a bevvy of jump scares (most of which repeat the same deep. droning low-frequency effect ad nauseum, which almost becomes a drinking game. No real defects, volume issues, or non-native shortcomings could be heard along the way, leading to the appropriate cliché of "this nothing more, nothing less" presentation.

Optional subtitles are provided during the main feature, as is a (probably hilarious) Descriptive Audio track.

It's a Wonderful Knife Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with no slipcover or inserts. The extras are, unfortunately, numerous.

• Audio Commentary #1 - Director Tyler MacIntyre sits down with writer/producer Michael Kennedy for this candid track, whose best assets might be the fact that they weren't recorded separately and it moves along at a good clip. As expected it covers all the usual bases and does so in a light and relaxed manner, but unfortunately is one of those commentaries where "the movie turned out great" even though it really didn't.

• Audio Commentary #2 - MacIntyre returns with cinematographer Nicholas Piatnik for this second track, which unavoidably repeats a few bits and pieces of information but obviously favors a technical perspective.

• Better Off: The Making of It's a Wonderful Knife (23:49) - This candid behind-the-scenes piece features writer/producer Michael Kennedy, director Tyler MacIntryre, and other key members of the cast and crew who speak about the film's writing, development, casting, shooting, post-production, and more; it's nicely produced but, like both audio commentaries, actually insists that they were on to something great here.

• Storyboards Featurette (2:13) - A brief side-by-side comparison between original storyboards and the finished "Carol of the Bells" kill scene that occurs about 40 minutes into the film.

• Domestic Trailer (2:00)

• International Trailer (2:06)

• Social Media Spots (6 clips) - A half-dozen promotional pieces, each running 30 seconds or less.

• Behind-the-Scenes Stills Gallery (~60 photos) - A manually-navigated series of stills from the set.

It's a Wonderful Knife Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite a holiday-timed international release several months ago, RLJ Entertainment brings Tyler MacIntyre's clumsy horror-comedy It's a Wonderful Knife to domestic Blu-ray just in time for Spring. (It makes sense, too, because this turd couldn't be tonally further from Capra's certified Christmas classic.) Despite the admittedly intriguing premise, this is a misfire on almost every level and is probably better off being avoided entirely. It's unfortunate, too: RLJ's Blu-ray offers solid A/V merits and plenty of bonus features, and thus is only recommended to established fans.