Review: Willy’s Wonderland
Streaming: Willy’s Wonderland
Nicolas Cage stars as ‘The Janitor’, a man of few words (very few words) who finds himself tasked with cleaning up the titular ‘Willy’s Wonderland’ (an abandoned funhouse) in order to pay off his repair bill to a local garage after his car ran over some spikes left on the road by the towns police.
Unbeknown to him, Willy’s Wonderland was previously the scene of heinous crimes which culminated in a group of sadistic killers sacrificing themselves so that their souls could live on.
These evil souls now reside in animatronic figures inside the funhouse and feast upon the strangers passing through, who the townsfolk sacrifice in order to keep their own people safe.
Little did they know that ‘The Janitor’ would be more than a match for Willy and his animatronic gang, all accompanied by regular drinks of soda and pinball sessions…I’ll leave you to work that one out when you watch!
A group of local youths led by a girl who has history with the place also break in, but they become more of a hinderance than a help to the janitor, often leading to him having to try and save them from the evil trapped within.
If you’ve watched the trailer below you’ll already have an idea just how bonkers Willy’s Wonderland is, and it embraces that sense of inherent madness all through its 98 minute running time…and is all the better for doing so.
As the end credits roll you’ll find yourself with so many questions floating around your mind, none of which will have a definitive answer. Writer G.O. Parsons deliberately teases you with certain aspects of the janitors life, but holds back from completely explaining them, while director Kevin Lewis keeps proceedings rolling along at a fair old pace as one outrageous scene follows another.
Imagine an amalgam of a live action Scooby Doo movie crossed with the mutated animatronic cousins of The Banana Splits…on LSD…with pinball and satanism. Now imagine a more crazy version of that and you’ll have some idea of what awaits you in Willy’s Wonderland.
Nic Cage is fantastic (isn’t he always!?) as a soda drinking, pinball playing, ass kicking guy who disappears as mysteriously as he appears at the beginning of the movie. There is also some classic ‘Cage Rage’ on view too.
A crazy assault on the senses that certainly stays in your head long after watching.
So, about the soda and pinball…
Review by Dave from a streaming link kindly supplied by Signature Entertainment.
