It's a Wonderful Knife

Play trailer

1:52

It's a Wonderful Knife

R

2023

1h 27m

Holiday

Horror

Comedy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

55%

Tomatometer

84 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

50+ Verified Ratings

A year after saving her town from a psychotic killer on Christmas Eve, Winnie Carruthers' life is less than wonderful -- but when she wishes she'd never been born, she finds herself in a nightmare parallel universe and discovers that without her, things could be much, much worse. Now the killer is back, and she must team up with the town misfit to identify the killer and get back to her own reality.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

It's a Wonderful Knife takes an enthusiastic stab at holiday-themed horror-comedy, even if it doesn't cut quite as deep as it should.

Read Critics Reviews

Ben Travis

Empire Magazine

Sometimes cheap but largely cheerful, this is a fun stocking-filler for horror fans — with plenty of heart to pump all that blood.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 6, 2023

Full Review

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

Autostraddle

But despite a few fun kills, a promising premise, and a few performances that really hit the right tone of the film, it doesn’t live up to those ambitions, a redundant and contrived script holding it back from true slasher glory.

Dec 4, 2023

Full Review

Christy Lemire

Breakfast All Day

It sort of lurches from moment to moment as far as being dreary and being inspired.

Rated: 4.8/10

Nov 17, 2023

Full Review

Bryce Hanson

Horror Movie Talk

It ends up being nothing other than a tonally confusing mess. It feels like the film went through 5 rewrites while shooting, one of which being done by an 8 year old.

Rated: 3/10

Sep 23, 2025

Full Review

Samantha Schuster

Cinéfilo Serial

It's a film that takes the slasher genre and gives it a twist based on a Christmas classic to bring us an entertaining story, with emotional moments and empowered characters. [Full Review in Spanish]

Rated: 3/5

Jul 23, 2025

Full Review

John Daniel Tangalin

The Cinema Spot

It’s a Wonderful Knife is life-changing and altering when it needs to be. Of course, it might just perform better with a longer runtime, more bloody kills—on-screen at that—, and overall, a somewhat fortified premise.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jul 18, 2025

Full Review

Read all reviews

Kari J

it made me jump and gringe but the whole story was strange in not so good way. some wouldnt appreciate the in your face sexuality of some scenes

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/22/23

Full Review

Adam O

Went in with pretty low expectations and had a lot of fun. Justin Long is unhinged, terrifying, and hilarious. All of the actors (especially the lead) were actually pretty good too. It starts out very hallmark-esque and then has some twists and turns, with some comedic and heartfelt elements that help create a unique tone. Horror fans will be in for a treat, anyone else I’m not so sure. There was one chase sequence in the dark that was actually really creative too. Will definitely be revisiting it during another Christmas down the line

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/20/23

Full Review

Savannah

It was boring and I got lost

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/16/23

Full Review

Michelle C

I thought it was pretty good. Had it's moments of humor and a few jump scares with a good twist.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/16/23

Full Review

Horror Chick

Bihorror is the best horror

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/16/23

Full Review

AA

Making a list and checking it twice… yup this movie is on it along with several several other Christmas horror movies I watch every year.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/16/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Tyler MacIntyre

Director

Cassandra Naud

Karen Simmons

Justin Long

Henry Waters

Joel McHale

David Carruthers

Jane Widdop

Winnie Carruthers

Jess McLeod

Bernie Simon

It's a Wonderful Knife: Exclusive Movie Clip - To The Rescue

0:58

View more videos

Totally Killer

85%

76%

Totally Killer

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Totally Killer

There's Something in the Barn

81%

52%

There's Something in the Barn

Watchlist

TRAILER

for There's Something in the Barn

The Funhouse Massacre

71%

36%

The Funhouse Massacre

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Funhouse Massacre

Tales of Halloween

77%

43%

Tales of Halloween

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Tales of Halloween

Thanksgiving

83%

78%

Thanksgiving

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Thanksgiving

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

It's a Wonderful Knife: Trailer 1

1:52

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

A year after saving her town from a psychotic killer on Christmas Eve, Winnie Carruthers' life is less than wonderful -- but when she wishes she'd never been born, she finds herself in a nightmare parallel universe and discovers that without her, things could be much, much worse. Now the killer is back, and she must team up with the town misfit to identify the killer and get back to her own reality.

Director: Tyler MacIntyre
Producer: Seth Caplan, Michael Kennedy, Daniel Bekerman
Screenwriter: Michael Kennedy
Distributor: RLJE Films / Shudder
Production Co: Divide/Conquer, Fourth Culture Films
Rating: R (Language|Drug Use|Bloody Violence)
Genre: Holiday, Horror, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 10, 2023, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 22, 2023
Box Office (Gross USA): $811.3K
Runtime: 1h 27m

Most Popular at Home Now