The Willies

One of my earliest horror related memories is of reading a comic (I'm guessing it was a reprint of old EC tales) in which a kid who enjoyed pulling the wings off flies ended up having both of his arms torn off (I recall that he may have even been given giant fly wings as replacements, although I may have made that bit up over the years). This story seems to be the inspiration for the second of the two main tales in kiddie-centric horror anthology The Willies, whilst the first, about a boy who discovers a monster in the school bathroom, appears to have borrowed heavily from an early Stephen King short story called 'Here There Be Tygers'. Even the short stories in the pre-credits sequence are based on familiar urban legends—meaning that the film doesn't rate very well for originality. Writer director Brian Peck also loses points for the poor structuring of his film, with the second story in particular long outstaying its welcome.

As highly derivative and poorly paced as the film may be, however, The Willies is still just about worthwhile thanks to its tongue-in-cheek approach (loved the Goonies in-joke), nicely developed characters (the solid cast includes future hobbit Sean Astin, and James Karen and Clu Gulager from Return of the Living Dead), some hokey creature effects, and above all, a genuine sense of fun. Plus, it's hard for me to hate too much on a film that, despite being aimed predominantly at a younger audience, actually proves rather disturbing at times: fly-boy Gordy (Michael Bower) surveying his macabre dioramas featuring dead flies is nice and twisted (the Church even has a dead fly attached to a crucifix!) and his fate is as gruesome as it should be (which reminds me... if anyone can shed any light on the name/issue number of that comic I read many moons ago, please drop me a message—I'd love to read that story again).

Sean Astin gathers his brother and cousin to spend the night in his tent with his uncle (James Karen) watching the kids. With nothing better to do, they tell each other scary stories. The first one involving a monster and the second one involving bugs. Fun little flick, is fairly tame (it does contain one scene of brief graphic violence) and makes a good pick for kids (10 or older) who are fans of scary story books like "Southern Fried Rat". The effects are awful, as is the score and acting, but it just adds to the fun!

Rated PG-13; One Scene of Graphic Violence.

This is a PG-13 movie made with a cast of mostly kids, written with humorous and yucky stories that appeal the most to kids (or, like "Tennessee Frickasee", are often TOLD by kids), and is ultimately a hearty attempt at a horror movie for kids. I found it to be pretty enjoyable myself, but I really think I would have liked this much more AS a kid. The stories would only scare a four-year-old (who, depending on the case of who the kid is, may not even be scared of them). Not that I was looking to be scared at all by a film like this, which I rented solely on how fun it could be. I did like it enough to consider it a fair horror-comedy/anthology, but I only wished I would've gotten to see it back in elementary school when I thought "Ghoulies 2" was the greatest movie ever made, because that's when I would have liked it the best.

This is a very funny movie. It is about these 2 brothers camping out with their cousin played by Sean Astin, they decide to tell scary stories, the first one is about this woman the goes into a chicken restaurant and orders a bucket of chicken and when she takes her first bite she notices that it doesn't taste like chicken she looks and its a big rat that she took a bite out of. the second one is about a old man that goes on a haunted house ride and dies of a heart attack. the next story is about a woman that dries her wet poodle off in the microwave after giving it a bath in the kitchen sink. the next 2 stories are the main stories of the movie. the 1st one is about a monster living above a boys bathroom in an elementary school. The second is about a boy that has a weird hobby collecting flies and doing stuff with them. If your looking for a movie that is funny and scary you should check out the Willies because this movie is funny and scary.

"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.