The Willies (1990)

Why so much hype?

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

What a weird film. Really more disgusting then scary. Case in point: a deep fried rat in a bucket of fried chicken!, a poodle put in a microwave by a demented old senile lady to "dry" him off! A poor old man scared to death in a amusement ride! Wow, so scary...NOT! Sean Astin with his brother and cousin take turns telling so-called scary stories, but they are anything but. The two main stories include a variety of stars.Dana Ashbrook was wasted in his brief cameo a customer wanting a bucket of chicken. Bill Erwin, Kimmy Robertson and Doug Benson are also totally wasted in a brief mini-story about a old man scared to death in a poor man's Haunted Mansion amusement ride.In story one, Kathleen Freeman did real good as a mean teacher, Ian Fried also did okay as a little boy being bullied and crying monster and no one believes him. of note: one of the bullies that tormented Ian, was none other than Jeremy Miller, 'Ben Seaver' of "Growing Pains" fame. James Karen had a nice part as the mysterious janitor with a very deadly secret. Clu Gulager was completely wasted as the principal of the school. I was really disappointed with that because when I saw his name and James Karen in the credits, I was expecting the funny chemistry they both had in the cult "Return of the Living Dead" film where they both had great parts. Here, even though they both were in Story One, did not have any scenes together.In Story Two, Michael Bower was cast very well as the strange and weird over-weight boy no one likes. His parents were good also especially Mike Pniewski as his mean and tough dad. A interesting pair of cameos were done by none other than Kirk Cameron and Tracey Gold, also of "Growing Pains" fame, in a nightmare scene that Michael has in which he is watching Kirk and Tracey on TV in their "Growing Pain" roles of 'Mike and Carol Seaver'! Story Two was a very weird and disturbing sequence that seem to go on for too long and with a very predictable (and unsatisfying) ending.All in all a very disturbing and weird little film. Could have been way better but it was low-budget at it's best. Still, if you can "stomach" it, (there's even a very disgusting and disturbing scene where a asthma inhaler is full of worms! YUCK!) I recommend you at least watch it once. It's that weird and disturbing.

This is one of those movies that's so campy you can't help but laugh at it, but at the same time, the kid-audience orientation of the movie almost justifies some of the campyness... like, the acting is definitely on par for what a kid-tailored movie would look like, but there are so many weird little faux pas that make me also think it's just a movie that's so bad it'd good. There are a lot of things you see that may be interesting as a thought, but when executed in filming are not so great (like that weird plastic spider hanging down in the fly kid's basement while he is working... it's obviously fake, but has no purpose anyway).

"The Willies" is sort of an "Urban Legend" for kids trying to gross each other out. Sean Astin and two other boys are camping out and tell each other a bunch of nasty stories. This was actually the first time that I'd ever heard of the woman microwaving her dog; I was surprised when I later learned that it's a fairly common urban legend. The movie itself first portrays a school where the janitor (James Karen) turns out to be a hideous monster...fortunately, not totally malevolent. The next half portrays a boy who gets a little too obsessed with bugs.Yes, it's probably one of the sillier movies out there. But it knows that it is just that, so there's no problem. Sean Astin shows the same flair that he'd shown in "The Goonies" and would later show in the "Lord of the Rings" movies. Worth seeing.PS: In case you don't recognize James Karen, he most recently starred in "The Pursuit of Happiness". He also starred in "All the President's Men", "Poltergeist" and "Return of the Living Dead" 1 and 2.

OK, it starts out with short stories, gory, yes. Gross, yes. Any good? Watch. Next we get to the main stories. The first one, scary, original, and funny. It's about a janitor who is really a monster and eats bad kids. The second story, long, stupid, wrong, sick, and boring. It's about Gordy Blecher who is in love with dead fly's. Good for the most part, and it is watchable, intil the end. *** out of ***** Good