WILLY’S WONDERLAND (2021)
Tagline: Let playtime begin!
(Action, Dark Humor, Horror) [R]
Note: This movie was not given an MPA rating, but definitely would have landed an [R].
Wait, guys, this isn’t for your entertainment, okay?
In this one, a man gets stranded in a small town that lives in total fear. His tires are all slashed and the only way he can pay for the repairs is to work one night doing light cleaning in the now-condemned Willy’s Wonderland. As homicidal animatronic characters come to life, the “Janitor” (played by Nicolas Cage) is forced to take action to try and survive the night.
First off I want to say that I had zero interest in this movie until I heard Nic Cage doesn’t say a single word in the entire movie but still delivers a worthwhile performance. I am not sure if the character was intended to be a non-verbal man on the autistic spectrum, but that it what I got out of it. Nicolas plays the character to perfection. It’s quite literally my favorite performance of his. Not because I am annoyed by his voice usually, but because this effort took a lot more acting skill and just a ton of cleaning. I mean this dude is going to clean the crap out of everything.
I am more of an 80’s horror fan and I tend to like the cheesier the better. While WILLY’S WONDERLAND does have some gritty edge here and there, it definitely reminded me of an old-school ’80s flick, especially in regards to covering all your basic slasher tropes. 4 out of every 5 teenagers is an idiot, no one has a good plan, don’t be a hero, don’t have premarital sex and you should have left town 5 years ago. What makes this even more evident is that the director said it was a cross between PALE RIDER and KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE. One of the producers was even in that movie.
There is nothing way realistic or ultra-gory which I appreciated. In other words, if you have seen an episode of THE WALKING DEAD or any violent made-for-TV movie, this is barely on par with that. All of this helps this feel a bit more like a comedy horror in spite of the crazy dark back story. This did involve that the animatronic characters had a demonic connection, but for me, that made it all the more satisfying to watch how the Janitor deals with them. He kind of strikes me as being sent from God, but the movie never explicitly says that.
The main female role in the movie is played by Emily Tosta who kills it in this as Liv. The rest of the teens are pretty stock, but we do get at least 4 characters we are rooting for the entire time. This movie also surprisingly has a solid moral message. I was pleasantly surprised this was included and it just makes you respect the Janitor even more. It made me reflect on what would actually happen if everyone who committed to something did what they said they were going to do, especially if doing it was going to be next to impossible.
Overall this is one of the better post-90s horror flicks. It did not make my TOP 10 this year, there is just too much coming out, but this is a treat for horror fans or anyone following Nic Cage’s career.
I give this thing a 5 out of 7. There are a few things I couldn’t stand about the back story of the town, but the rest is pretty solid.
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