Sunday Scaries: ‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’ and ‘Thanksgiving’ Shows That Holiday Horror is Having a Moment

The Sunday Scaries are upon us once again! Yes, as the weekend concludes, most of us feel an oncoming sense of anticipatory dread about the week ahead. Anxiety about work manifests itself into a feeling that’s known as the Sunday Scaries. However, we at Awards Radar are here to combat that, by taking back the name. Now, we want you think about a horror-centric piece on the site when you hear the term. So, let us continue on with another installment of the Awards Radar Sunday Scaries! Today, we’re talking about the two recent holiday themed horror films that have hit screens…

In the past few weeks, we have seen a pair of holiday themed horror flicks get released. If we get one every couple of years, I consider us lucky, so two? That’s something. Plus, they were both very good! It’s a Wonderful Knife and Thanksgiving are high quality slashers, with more than gore to offer, putting forth a ton of cleverness. It’s a moment that we, as genre fans, should really be taking in and savoring.

Horror movies centered on holidays often focus on Halloween, for obvious reasons. It’s an easy marriage of material and period. Other holidays have been rare, with Christmas and Thanksgiving this year getting their first or nearly their first cracks. Truly, every single holiday should eventually get their own horror feature. If this double feature of sorts gets the ball rolling, then it will be all the more delightful…

In my review of It’s a Wonderful Knife (here), I had this to say:

While it’s no secret that I love a good fright flick, I don’t talk nearly as much about a certain type of holiday film. Honestly, when it comes to a Christmas movie, I’m not huge on them. Some, whether it’s Love. Actually or Die Hard (yes, it counts), shine through, but the old standbys don’t do a ton for me. So, while a horror take on It’s a Wonderful Life intrigued me, my indifference to the latter kept me from being as pumped as I normally would be for a Michael Kennedy script (Freaky is amazing, simply put). Silly me, as It’s a Wonderful Knife is a clever and fun take on the tale, clearly homaging with affection, while spilling more than its fair share of blood. In terms of hybrids, this is a cut above.

It’s a Wonderful Knife works as a Christmas movie, to be sure, as long as gore doesn’t bug you. As for horror fans, they’re bound to be tickled by this violent take on the story. The film doesn’t take itself seriously, but it does opt to take the homaging seriously, which is a nice choice. It makes both sides of the coin feel equal to each other, raising both sides up in concert.

As for Thanksgiving, my review here includes the following:

It’s no secret that I’ve wanted to see Thanksgiving as a feature film ever since I saw Eli Roth‘s fake trailer during Grindhouse. It just tickled my fancy so much, a slasher movie set during Turkey Day. Well, it’s now real, it’s here, and folks…it’s bloody glorious. Roth has made this horror flick for everyone who loves those good old fashioned slashers. It’s a hoot.

Thanksgiving deserves to play on Black Friday at midnight every year, going forward. It’s a future cult classic, for sure, but it’s also just a good horror movie. There’s plenty of homage to the trailer, but the film definitely exists of its own accord. It’s a throwback type of slasher, but considering how few we get at all these days, that’s still very much a compliment.

So, enjoy this mini wave of holiday themed horror films. Who knows when we get the next one? Hell, it could be if there’s a potential Thanksgiving sequel in the works. Make of that what you will, but don’t sleep on these fright flicks if you haven’t seen them yet…

Stay tuned for another Sunday Scaries installment next weekend!