Their idea of fun is killer!
20211 h 28 min
Overview
When his car breaks down, a quiet loner agrees to clean an abandoned family fun center in exchange for repairs. He soon finds himself waging war against possessed animatronic mascots while trapped inside Willy's Wonderland.
Details
Movie Media
VoD
Movie Status
Available
Movie Rating
Good
Actors
Starring:
Nicolas Cage,
Emily Tosta,
Beth Grant,
Ric Reitz,
Chris Warner,
Kai Kadlec,
Caylee Cowan,
Jonathan Mercedes,
Terayle Hill,
Christian Delgrosso,
David Sheftell,
Grant Cramer,
Chris Padilla,
Olga Cramer,
Jiri Stanek,
Taylor Towery,
Chris Schmidt Jr.,
Austin Perez,
B.J. Guyer,
Christopher Bradley,
Jessica Graves,
Duke Jackson,
Émoi,
Madisun Leigh,
Abel Arias,
Mark Gagliardi,
Luke James Donnelly,
Waverly Dooley,
Jenner Michaels
After watching the Banana Splits Movie, I said to myself, “Hm, bet we won’t see another movie with killer animatronics for a long time.” I’m glad I didn’t put money on that. Now, B-movies about killer robots are not exactly unique. Evil Chuck E. Cheese, on the other hand, is a bit more niche. Before Willy’s Wonderland came out, everyone was saying, “So it’s just Five Nights are Freddy’s with Nicolas Cage.” And…yeah that was pretty much it. Can’t say viewers are going to go into this movie not knowing what to expect.
What I did not know, and did surprise me, is that Nic Cage plays a silent protagonist. And it works! And not in a gimmicky way like Jason Voorhees or Mini-Me either. His nameless character (credited as The Janitor) shows a lot of personality and badassery. When the evil animatronics attack, he starts fighting back like a pro with no fear or hesitation. All the other characters realize how messed up this situation is, but Nic Cage is just there with a “But for me, it was Tuesday” attitude. I never really thought about Nic Cage playing a silent protagonist before now but if it works it works.
Everything else in this movie is exactly what you’d exactly. Some horror, some comedy, and some action with all the standard tropes. Monsters in dark rooms, jump scares, teenagers being brutally killed one by one, the works. If you’re expecting anything other than a cliché horror-comedy that may or may not become a cult classic, I’m not sure why you’re even watching Willy’s Wonderland. This movie is made with a specific audience in mind and the trailer alone should let you know whether or not this film is for you.
Anyway, I liked it a lot. It did what it was trying to do with a good mix of CGI and practical effects. And Nic Cage being Nic Cage. I’m not sure they even gave him a script. They might have just explained the premise, shoved him on the set, and said, “Ok, do stuff. Cameras are rolling.” Everything here is basically what you would expect from Nic Cage, whose presence is a major selling point here. That and evil animatronics and the fact this is a horror B-movie. All hail cheesy movies!
Overview
After seven months have passed without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at Bill Willoughby, the town's revered chief of police. When his second-in-command Officer Jason Dixon, an immature mother's boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing's law enforcement is only exacerbated.
Details
Movie Media
VoD
Movie Status
Available
Movie Rating
Very good
Actors
Starring:
Frances McDormand,
Sam Rockwell,
Woody Harrelson,
Abbie Cornish,
Lucas Hedges,
Caleb Landry Jones,
Peter Dinklage,
John Hawkes,
Samara Weaving,
Zeljko Ivanek,
Clarke Peters,
Amanda Warren,
Kerry Condon,
Darrell Britt-Gibson,
Kathryn Newton,
Sandy Martin,
Riya May Atwood,
Selah Atwood,
Malaya Rivera Drew,
Christopher Berry,
Jerry Winsett,
Brendan Sexton III,
Alejandro Barrios,
Jason Ledford,
Gregory Nassif St. John,
Allyssa Barley,
William J. Harrison,
Eleanor Threatt,
Michael Aaron Milligan,
Nick Searcy
If I had to use just one word to describe this movie, it’d be “sorrowful”. The film is very much a black comedy, but there are segments where it leans a lot more towards “black” than “comedy”. The premise is pretty simple; this woman’s daughter was raped & murdered, the cops didn’t catch whoever did it, and that is destroying her. It’s pretty obvious from the get-go that Frances McDormand’s character Mildred does not take shit from people. But at the same time, she feels powerless in so many ways and it’s hard to watch all the struggles happening to this woman and the people around her all stemming from this one horrific act of violence.
The performances here are amazing. Just about every time Mildred opens her mouth, you can feel the anger and resolve of her words in the air. But we also see her moments of grief; she is a very 3D character. One moment you’re laughing at how she’s made some bastard feel like a fool and the next you’re sucker-punched in the gut by seeing her vulnerable. And it all just feels…real. Movie characters can be pretty 2D and simplistic, but everyone knows that real life is a swirl of emotions. Horrible things like this actually happen, all the time, and even fictional stories like this one (built with a grain of truth, mind you) can hurt even while being entertaining once you remember that.
Now, I have seen a couple of other reviews that complain about the portrayal of racism in this film. On one hand, I definitely agree that the racist characters turning over a new leaf and all is forgiven is bullshit. On the other hand, this movie takes place in rural Missouri. It would be weird if there weren’t any racist characters. I say that as someone who lives in Missouri, born and raised. You get more than a couple of miles from the major city limits around here and you start to hear banjos.
This is definitely one of the emotionally strongest films I’ve seen, ever. Everybody goes through some form of pain and loss in their life, but my god, I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a child. Most people can’t, thankfully. But this film comes shockingly close to giving audiences a taste of what those emotions can do to people. And despite all the plot holes…well, it’s still a movie. Suspension of disbelief is a thing, use it and just enjoy the film.
Overview
A mystical, ancient dagger causes a notorious serial killer to magically switch bodies with a 17-year-old girl.
Details
Movie Media
VoD
Movie Status
Available
Movie Rating
Very good
Actors
Starring:
Vince Vaughn,
Kathryn Newton,
Alan Ruck,
Katie Finneran,
Celeste O'Connor,
Misha Osherovich,
Uriah Shelton,
Dana Drori,
Dustin Lewis,
Kelly Lamor Wilson,
Melissa Collazo,
Nick Arapoglou,
Radhesh Aria,
Emily Holder,
Nicholas Stargel,
Mitchell Hoog,
Alonzo Ward,
Jennifer Pierce Mathus,
Uriah Shelton,
Zack Shires,
Magnus Diehl,
Dane Davenport,
Charles Green,
Michelle Ladd,
Don Stallings,
Brooke Jaye Taylor,
Sarafina King,
Tim Johnson
So, the premise of Freaky is pretty simple. It’s Freaky Friday but instead of a teenage girl swapping bodies with her mom, it’s a teenage girl swapping bodies with a deranged serial killer. Why this wasn’t released in October, we’ll never know, but it was still a fun film. Would I call it horror-comedy gold? No, it’s a far cry from Tucker and Dale or What We Do in the Shadows. But seeing Vince Vaughn play a teenage girl is one of the best things I’ve seen since seeing Jack Black play a teenage girl.
Now the main issue this movie had was the pacing. It starts off fairly slow and not that different from any other 2nd-rate slasher flick. Despite the main premise of the movie being the bodyswap, it takes a while for it to actually happen. Once we get to that point the movie finally gets going. But it’s more the actors than anything else that carry this film. The writing is just ok and there aren’t really any surprises here, you’ll see what’s coming. But the delivery is on point from pretty much every member of the cast, particularly the leads.
Vince Vaughn has a pretty good range, but I’ve always liked him best in Dodgeball. Comedy is just where he shines for me and that carries over into Freaky. Plus, the fact that he plays two extremely different characters, one comedic and one serious, but nails both roles really sticks out here. Likewise, Kathryn Newton does the same thing and nails it even better. She flips between a stereotypical teenage girl and a sadistic monster pretty seamlessly, much to the horror of her victims. And I’m sure there’s something to be said here about how we as a society make assumptions towards other people based on their appearances, but that’s a bit more meta than I want to get here.
Anyway, is this film a cinematic masterpiece? No. Is it a fun, goofy horror-comedy? You bet it is. So long as you’re not taking it seriously, Freaky is a fantastic film. They knew what they were aiming for when they made this movie and they hit the mark. This obviously isn’t for everyone, but if you like these kinds of movies the way I do it’ll scratch that itch.