On paper, doing a modern gimmick horror version of Capra’s insufferable, inevitable It’s a Wonderful Life sounds like a grand idea, for its vague politics and Capra’s peculiar world view really could use a bit of an update; plus blood and guts go well with anything.
In the hands of director Tyler MacIntyre and writer Michael Kennedy, this doesn’t turn out to be a worthwhile effort. The film never seems to be sure what kind of story it actually wants to tell, and for the handful of clever, fun or funny moments it squeezes in while not really telling much of one, there are dozens that simply fall flat. Unlike the film this is taking its basic idea from, the dystopic hellscape the town turns into when the slasher isn’t dispatched by our heroine is just too flat – dope smokers are now into crack instead! – and the curious attempt to change the role of our heroine when compared to the non-slasher version of the material neither makes much sense for the plot, nor does it result in anything much worthwhile thematically.
The attempts at doing the “society’s outsiders are awesome; lesbians are great” thing are certainly likeable, but never really come to life more than stating the obvious generally does.
Knife isn’t much clearer in its treatment of its supernatural elements, particularly when Justin Long’s evil mayor also turns out to have some random hypnotic powers or something, for some reason the film isn’t going into and the characters don’t seem to believe worth even thinking about. I can’t help but think rather a lot of things were lost between various versions of the script, and the film this ended up as is some curious undead abomination made from scraps.
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