Leighton Trent’s review published on Letterboxd:
"Fuck yeah, Christmas"
Every time a knife clings to bone, an angel gets its wings.
I could sit here and say that the best thing about this movie is its title, because let's face it, it's a damn charming play on words considering it does actually take the plot of the warmest, fuzziest Christmas classic and gives it that slasher glam up it so very much deserves. But, of course, that would be a lie. The title is not the best thing here...
The best thing about this bit of slasherific holiday cheer is Justin Long giving no effs as he gives us his best Lionel Barrymore impression but as though he were in his Martin Short era, all the while wearing veneers. This bit of cheeky, cheesy, and even endearingly eery fun shows that he really is having himself the best time right now and we should all very much be here for it.
As for the film itself, it follows the ABC's of being a "Shudder Original": cheap, slick and entertaining (about half the jokes land, which is better than I expected) and it shows, but it's all preaching to the choir here which makes it more than adequate even if the script could've used another once or twice over. Still, Knife is filled with enough gory red to fill up the entire holiday season, and let's be clear, I definitely prefer to have that for Christmas, much more so than my two front teeth or some gargantuan hippopotamus.
***The handful of homages to the Scream franchise sprinkled throughout, both subtle and not, shows a clear love for the slasher subgenre as a whole and gives the film a bit of a fangirl/fanboy vibe that actually helps the film more than it hurts it.
☃️ All the Hollies and All the Jollies 2023 ☃️
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