"The Willies" is a so-so horror anthology, mostly consisting of shorts and two major segments, aimed at a juvenile audience. It's made by and features several alumni of "The Return of the Living Dead", so that gives it enough of a curio factor going in. At its best, it's good for some decent laughs, and has enough familiar faces on screen to make it palatable.
The initial story is that of three kids (Sean Astin, Jason Horst, and Jeremy Miller) having a backyard campout in a tent. They take turns telling each other "scary" stories, including the urban legend of a poodle being dried in a microwave, and a customer at a fried chicken restaurant being served a breaded rat.
The film then segues into the tale of a bullied kid (Ina Fried) discovering a voracious monster in the school restroom. The kid finds that the monster comes in handy when it comes to the dispatching of his tormentors and his harridan of a teacher (the very well cast character actress Kathleen Freeman). Overall, this segment was pretty damn amusing, and at least a sight better than the next one.
Gordy Belcher (Michael Bower) is a portly, outcast child who obsesses over his vast insect collection. And he'll spend an eternity in his basement, fussing over his dead flies, pulling their wings off, and even putting them in little dioramas. But when he's given an "extra special" fertilizer by a demented farmer (Ralph Drischell), it affects his subjects in a monstrous way. Now, this segment really goes on too long, forcing us to spend all this time with a character we don't really like and making us wait an eternity for his comeuppance. The punchline is fine, though.
Complete with creature effects by Tony Gardner, and featuring a wonderful turn by reliable old James Karen ("Poltergeist", the aforementioned "The Return of the Living Dead"), this is mildly entertaining stuff, with some highlights here and there. A particular hoot was seeing a scene with 'Growing Pains' cast members Kirk Cameron and Tracey Gold (since Miller was also on that sitcom at the time).
As I said, this is more for a family audience and not hardcore horror fans, but some of your own kids may find it worth their while.
Six out of 10.
The initial story is that of three kids (Sean Astin, Jason Horst, and Jeremy Miller) having a backyard campout in a tent. They take turns telling each other "scary" stories, including the urban legend of a poodle being dried in a microwave, and a customer at a fried chicken restaurant being served a breaded rat.
The film then segues into the tale of a bullied kid (Ina Fried) discovering a voracious monster in the school restroom. The kid finds that the monster comes in handy when it comes to the dispatching of his tormentors and his harridan of a teacher (the very well cast character actress Kathleen Freeman). Overall, this segment was pretty damn amusing, and at least a sight better than the next one.
Gordy Belcher (Michael Bower) is a portly, outcast child who obsesses over his vast insect collection. And he'll spend an eternity in his basement, fussing over his dead flies, pulling their wings off, and even putting them in little dioramas. But when he's given an "extra special" fertilizer by a demented farmer (Ralph Drischell), it affects his subjects in a monstrous way. Now, this segment really goes on too long, forcing us to spend all this time with a character we don't really like and making us wait an eternity for his comeuppance. The punchline is fine, though.
Complete with creature effects by Tony Gardner, and featuring a wonderful turn by reliable old James Karen ("Poltergeist", the aforementioned "The Return of the Living Dead"), this is mildly entertaining stuff, with some highlights here and there. A particular hoot was seeing a scene with 'Growing Pains' cast members Kirk Cameron and Tracey Gold (since Miller was also on that sitcom at the time).
As I said, this is more for a family audience and not hardcore horror fans, but some of your own kids may find it worth their while.
Six out of 10.