"The Willies (1990)" Review

Review: One night 2 brothers and their cousin decide to camp out and tell each other stories that will hopefully gross out one another. After a few more urban legend style stories they move onto 2 main tales, one that follows a young boy who is being tormented by 3 bullies and treated like dirt by a teacher and all he has to help defend him is the school janitor Mr. Jankins, but this janitor has a secret that he will soon show to those who do the tormenting! The second tale is that about a teenage kid Gordy Belcher(Michael Bower) who has an odd curiosity with flies and after pushing a local farmer too far he will learn a lesson he surely won't forget!

I must state that this was one of the first horror films that I saw back in 1990 and it has stuck with me for quite some time. Most people would consider this a campy film that doesn't offer much to the horror genre, but honestly they would be right on it being campy because that it is, but I would disagree on it not adding anything to the horror genre because really what it does is gives kids a chance at being introduced to horror without them having to watch it in B&W. Personally I have always loved b&w horror films but there is alot who do not. Now even though the short tales that they tell in the beginning of the film are campy and quite silly they don't stay that way when it leads to our 2 main stories. As a child and seeing those 2 stories I can honestly say that I actually did get scared because they keep the camp but also go in a more darker and serious tone.

One of the shining points about this film is the cast that was involved such as Sean Astin (The Goonies), James Karen (The Unborn), Bill Erwin (Home Alone/Planes, Trains, and Automobiles), and Michael Bower (Salute Your Shorts) to name a few. Also I must add that the special effects in this film are done quite well and of course in the old-school practical way which makes for enjoyable monsters and goriness! The only problem that I would say that I didn't like about the DVD, but can look past it for the sake of the movie was the overall look of the picture. It looks like they took a VHS copy of the film and converted it to DVD and also the lack of special features. Overall I am just happy for this to be on DVD!

Director: Brian Peck

Genre: Horror

DVD Release Year: 2008

Release Year: 1990

Time Length: 91 mins.

Company: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment

Website: www.echobridgehe.com