Willy's Wonderland

Director - Kevin Lewis (Dark Heart, Malibu Spring Break)

Starring - Nicolas Cage (Mandy, Face Off), Emily Tosta (Mayans M.C., Monster), and Beth Grant (Donnie Darko, Six Feet Under)

Release Date - 2021

Genre - Horror/Comedy

Tagline - "2020 isn't over yet kids"

Format - Streaming (Vudu)

Rating (out of 5):

     Nic Cage has had one hell of a career.  I grew up on his movies.  Vampire's Kiss, Face/Off, Con Air, and Raising Arizona were movies that I would watch often.  Hell, anytime Con Air aired on television I would make time to watch it.  His career did take a bit of a drag but he caught my eye again with Mandy.  Now, anytime I see his name attached to a new movie I make sure I check it out.  Sometime ago it was announced that Cage would be starring in a Five Nights at Freddy's inspired horror film.  I couldn't wait to check it out and when a friend bought Willy's Wonderland on Vudu I knew I had my chance.  I loved this movie so much I quickly ordered the blu as soon as I finished watching it.  

     The film follows a silent man who finds himself with four busted tired in a small town. The local tow guy helps him out but he finds himself unable to pay for the repairs.  The owner of Willy's Wonderland promises to settle his debts if he agrees to spend the night cleaning the place before opening the next day.  He agrees but soon discovers that the animatronic puppets on display in Willy's is actually possessed by the spirits of a family of serial killers who lured birthday boys and girls to their deaths.  Now he must fight the night away in order to get his car back.  

     I knew this wasn't going to be a perfect film and nowhere near as amazing as Mandy.  I hate comparing Cage's film to Mandy but that is, without a doubt, the best genre film of the last 20 years.  I absolutely love it and I know Cage can give us even more insane films before his time is up.  Willy's Wonderland was fun as hell if you let it be.  However, if you go into this one wanting to pick it apart then you will not enjoy yourself.  The acting in this one is nothing amazing but it does work for the film.  Cage goes through the entire film without uttering a single word.  It's not the most memorable performance from Cage but it works for the film.  The supporting cast is pretty solid but the characters are pretty flat when compared to the absurd story unfolding before you.  The story for this one had a lot of interesting ideas but I feel like these ideas was never fully explored as much as I would have liked to see.  I liked the serial killers transferring their spirits into the characters from Willy's Wonderland and the small town coming together to make an agreement with them.  However, there is so much story in that and it shouldn't just be something mentioned in passing in the film.  The movie should have focused on this.  I sincerely hope we get a prequel to featuring the family and the events leading up to the town making an agreement with them.  With that being said, the film is mindless fun.  It is a bit rushed and a lot of the most interesting aspects are mentioned in passing but it works.  I still enjoyed the hell out of it and as soon as I finished watching it I immediately hit play on it again.  Finally, the film has some bloody moments.  We get plenty of fun and hyper-violent deaths with lots of blood and some gore.  I really enjoyed these death scenes and how they unfolded.  With that being said, the costumes for the animatronics were extremely cheap and didn't really fit the look of the film.  Overall, Willy's Wonderland is a fantastic mind-numbingly fun flick that is perfect for those of you looking to see some blood with no strings attached.  However, if you are one that is overly critical of films then you will want to skip it.