Director Kevin Lewis and writer G.O. Parsons have discovered time-travel without physical displacement. And the best part about their shortcut is you don’t need a modified DeLorean or an ‘80s phone booth to break the space-time continuum. Instead, all you have to do is watch the new horror-comedy, “Willy’s Wonderland.” Suddenly, you’re transported back to the days of being a young teen, sitting in your room thinking up the craziest ideas for movies while destroying bags of Cheetos and mainlining Super Gulps (well, if you’re a child of the ’80s anyhow). There’s really no other way to explain the temporal shifting experience that the bonkers, campy, and Jolt Cola-injecting “Willy’s Wonderland” provides.
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First, it must be said— “Willy’s Wonderland,” grotesque and gore-filled— is not a good film. But then again, making a “quality film” is clearly not the intention of the aforementioned Lewis and Parsons, who are bear-hugging the ‘80s and the slasher genre, with this collaboration, warts and all. “Willy’s Wonderland” is an ode to a bygone era of shlocky horror films that valued fun and ludicrous gore over characterization and a rock-solid plot. And everyone involved is having a blast every second of the 88-minute runtime.
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You’ll find plot holes the size of an oversized animatronic frog in a Mexican sombrero. You’ll question logic, as you watch a legendary actor (Nicolas Cage) dress in a silly t-shirt and fight possessed, serial killer robots. And you’ll notice all the worn-out slasher tropes when you see a group of teens enter a funhouse that will almost certainly lead to impromptu sexual escapades and gruesome murders. But when the credits roll, and you wonder who in their right mind gave these people enough money to make “Willy’s Wonderland,” the abundance of B-movie charm and joy that is poured into every frame of the film will make those perceived issues wash away. Or maybe, it’s the ‘80s, synth-filled theme song that clouds your judgment?
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“Willy’s Wonderland,” tells the story of a mysterious stranger (Cage) that finds himself in possession of a busted car in a backwoods town and ends up having to work off his debt as the janitor of a run-down Chuck E. Cheese-esque theme restaurant for one night. Unfortunately, The Janitor (yes, that’s the character’s name, per the credits), doesn’t know that this is all part of an elaborate plan by the locals to “feed” unsuspecting out-of-towners to the homicidal animatronic characters that populate the children’s destination. Fans of the video game series, “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” might take issue with this premise, but regardless, there’s enough “new” in this film that you won’t be concerned with any other basic similarities.
And though the film is titled “Willy’s Wonderland,” it may as well be called “The Nic Cage Show” because the actor is the main attraction in this film. Clearly, Cage isn’t getting paid by the word, as you quickly find out that the action star isn’t asked to speak at all. His taciturn performance is devoid of those over-the-top monologues and odd annunciations that have become a hallmark in his roles. Instead, Cage relies solely on his face and body to tell the story of The Janitor. And as you watch him drink dozens of Punch Pops (the man actually has a timer set on his watch for his required caffeine fix) and dance while playing pinball, the lack of dialogue becomes a moot point as you realize that Cage can be just as Cage-y as you want without uttering a word. All he needs is an intense glare, a broken mop, a sack of sodas, a fast car, and the occasional grunt to entertain the audience.
There are other characters in this film, and the credits would have you believe they all have distinct names. But given “Willy’s Wonderland” is all about homage and eliciting a feeling of nostalgia for ‘80s horror and camp, these characters might as well have been called “Mean Sheriff” (Beth Grant), “Nerdy Teen” (Jonathan Mercedes), “Final Girl” (Emily Tosta), “Class Clown” (Terayle Hill), “Sexy Girl” (Caylee Cowan), and “Backwoods Local” (Chris Warner). Their names aren’t nearly as important as the roles they inhabit, which aren’t going to surprise, outside of the admirable diversity in casting. And the actors all do well with what they’re given, considering they’re little more than props used for plot progression, ridiculous death scenes, and to deliver dialogue gold such as “Speaking of backwoods inbreds, where did Bob and Cathy go?”
But this brings us to the one major flaw of “Willy’s Wonderland”—the lack of imagination. There’s a ton of conceivable ways to conjure up creative, gruesome, poor-taste deaths for laughs. Where’s the pinball machine death? What about a ball pit demise? Sadly, the funhouse aspect of the film, is grossly undervalued and underused. Instead, Cage just beats everything to death with a stick over and over again (Though, a special commendation for whoever thought of having The Janitor rip the robotic spine out of a character, which is gleefully and perfectly stupid).
Lewis, the director, isn’t much better in terms of flaws. Clearly, he hasn’t met a camera that he didn’t want to shake, spin, or zoom, and all the wild, undisciplined camera movement starts to grate. When you already have scenes with expressionistic, scene-chewing Nic Cage, and colorful production design blinding your eyeballs, is that dutch angle or crash zoom really that necessary?
Unlike The Janitor’s coveted Punch Pop (with a can that reads “A fistful of caffeine to the kisser”), “Willy’s Wonderland” doesn’t immediately hit you. In fact, the horror-comedy could be characterized as sluggish in the first act. But as you chug more of it and the caffeine turns your bloodstream into a weird amalgamation of neon lights, pinball machine dance routines, and synth-wave music, you might find yourself cheering by the end when The Janitor, with nothing more than a tight t-shirt, a broken mop handle, and a sack of soda, faces off against a Satanic, serial killer, animatronic weasel for the soul of a small town. No, it doesn’t make much sense. But holy shit, it’s a wild-ass ride. [B+]
“Willy’s Wonderland” is available on VOD now.