During the last 80 years, It’s a Wonderful Life went from being a box-office disaster to one of the most cherished Christmas holiday movies. The final collaboration between director Frank Capra and actor Jimmy Stewart didn’t really sit well with audiences in the post-WWII era. The movie barely broke even at the box office and caused Liberty Films, the production studio that bankrolled the movie, to go under.
Even worse, when people started buying television sets en masse through the next few decades, the movie fell in public domain and was aired numerous times over the decades. The movie’s popularity has differed among generations with younger generations dismissing it at pro-Capitalism propaganda. Mainly Baby Boomers have embraced it possibly from the repeated viewings.
In many ways, the story is rather comical. Stewart plays a schlub named George Bailey who gives up a lot of what he wants to do with his life because people from his hometown can’t solve their own problems. And in a stupid plot development that makes absolutely no sense, they still let absent-minded Uncle Billy carry $8,000, which is almost $130,000 in today’s numbers to the bank for a deposit, even though George was already out running errands.
And Billy accidentally lets Old Man Potter (Lionel Barrymore in a comically over the top performance) have the money. And Potter files a warrant for George’s arrest for embezzlement despite no third-party investigation which requires an audit which takes time. Also, on Christmas Eve, this wouldn’t happen. So George wonders why it was like if he was never born. That is after he saves Clarence the Angel who jumps in the raging rivers to stop George from jumping into the raging rivers. And how does he save him? By jumping into the raging rivers?
Anyway, the 15 minutes George spends in Pottersville makes him go crazy and realize how much he likes being alive. Everyone assembles money to pay off the missing money. I mean, the movie makes no sense. I’m sure audiences in 1946 were busy scratching their heads at the bad overacting and obviously fake snow.
But there have been many variations over the years of this theme. I would even argue The Last Temptation of Christ in itself is a more improved version. So, it was only a matter of time before some filmmakers would add a horror spin to the movie. It’s a Wonderful Knife takes a lot of the original concept and exposes all the problems. But in this case, Old Man Potter is a killer.
On Christmas Eve in the town of Angel Falls, Henry Waters (Justin Long), a wealthy industrialist, murders Roger Evans (William B. Davies), an aging resident who refuses to sell his house and property so Henry can use the land for a big development he’s planning. Roger intends to leave it to his granddaughter, Cara (Hana Huggins). So, Henry dressed in an Christmas angel costume murders her too.
Cara is the best friend of Winnie Caruthers (Jane Widdop), who is the daughter of Waters’ business partner, David (Joel McHale). Winnie witnesses Cara get killed outside a Christmas party. Her brother, Jimmy (Aiden Howard), is attacked by Henry and Winnie kills him by electrocution.
One year later, Winnie has sunken into depression. Her application to New York University has been denied. But David, Jimmy and her mother, Judy (Erin Boyles), are going about as if nothing has happened. And the town of Angels Falls seems to act like the events of the previous year haven’t happened. Now, that David has taken over Henry’s business, his wealth has improved. But Buck (Sean Depner), Henry’s brother, has turned bitter toward the Carruthers family.
At a Christmas party, Winnie befriends Bernie Simon (Jess McLeod), who is called “Weirdo” because she’s the social outcast. (However, there never is really any explanation as why.) Winnie also discovers her boyfriend has been cheating on her. Upset she goes outside to the nearby bridge and notices the Northern Lights. She says she wishes she was never born. The Angel Killer appears again and chases Winnie who comes upon Buck, who is now the town sheriff. Buck doesn’t recognize her. The town’s mayor is now Henry, who is very much alive. He’s also been able to get his business development passed through and it’s been constructed.
Frightened, she tries to go home but discovers her family doesn’t recognize her. Judy has fallen into alcoholism. David is depressed because Jimmy was murdered. And her aunt, Gale Prescott (Katherine Isabelle), also doesn’t recognize her and is also grieving the murder of her partner, Karen Simmons (Cassandra Naud), also killed by The Angel. The killer has been murdering a person about every two weeks for the past year.
Winnie manages to reconnect with Bernie, who seems to be the only one who wants to help her. And they try to convince Winnie’s family that she was one of them. At the same time, they’re trying to tell everyone Henry is the killer. Yet no one believes them. But there’s a twist that I won’t tell here.
Granted, this movie isn’t great. But the strength of it is by the performances of Widdop and Long. Davis and Isabelle are popular Canadian actors known for The X-Files and Ginger Snaps, respectively. And the fact this was filmed in Canada adds a nice flair as most of the slasher horror movies of the 1980s and 1990s were filmed north of the American border. Widdop, who has been on the popular show Yellowjackets, is a future star in the making.
And Long, who as known for his horror roles as much as his comedic ones, turns Henry Waters into a man who’s evil even if he doesn’t kill anyone. Long said he was channeling a “Boomer smarminess” for the role. He plays the role that it’s borders between over the top and with the same crassness he had in Barbarian.
I don’t know if this will become another holiday horror flick with Black Christmas, Silent Night, Deadly Night and Christmas Evil. But I am glad to see more filmmakers are adding more “scary ghost stories” to the “most wonderful time of the year.”
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 