THE WILLIES (1990)
Wow, this one I probably would never have seen had it not come up in an online conversation. When I realized Sean Austin was in it, I had to check it out. Sean is by far one of my favorite actors. This movie oddly exists in THE GOONIES universe. The movie is an anthology where Michael (played by Sean Austin who also plays Mikey in THE GOONIES, even the story about his adventure finding a pirates treasure map is mentioned). The brother in the film Kyle (played by Jason Horst) is younger suggesting perhaps Brand left home and there is now a younger brother in the family, having said that, these extra connections are not implied in the script. The cousin’s name is Josh. Their uncle is played by the legendary James Karen who is probably best known, at least by me for his role in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. However James was accepting roles in film until he was 92 years old.
The movie is an anthology of sorts but really only contains 1 very short story and 2 long stories. One is about a ride at a carnival that starts and ends really quickly. The second is about a kid that gets picked on at school. His situation worsens when he makes a startling discovery in the boy’s room at his school. The next and last story is about a kid who has a weird habit of messing with flies, like it’s really damn weird and creepy.
This movie is part comedy in a way but mostly feels like some episodes of the MONSTERS tv (leaning more towards creepy horror) show that ended up on the cutting room floor. The 80’s and early 90’s had their share of anthologies, but this one might be one of the more obscure attempts. The acting is strong for the most part with a few minor exceptions. The cinematography is flat like there is very little interesting camera work in this at all, and the direction is just so so, but I don’t have an issue with Brian Peck at least trying this out. He’s mostly an actor. He even had a role as one of the punks (Scuz) in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Effects wise some parts of this movie hold their own against other 80’s type flicks, but other parts are so weak they are almost comical.
Story line wise, this movie definitely hits the creepy marks, but isn’t gory at all. Its does seem more directed at teens than adults. Sadly for me, Sean Austin is barely in this thing, and the second “more weird” segment, is the bulk of the movie…or at least it feels like it.
For me this is an interesting find, but not something I’d likely watch again. THE WILLIES gets a 3 out of 7 for me. It’s not terrible, but it’s not what I would call solid in an anthology field that was crowded at the time.
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