An Average Movie-Goer’s Review
Spoilers! If you don’t want spoilers – check out the Spoiler-Free post
I love horror movies and if I’m going to watch them anyway, why not write an entertaining/funny review from the POV of an average movie-goer and not a professional critic.
Today we’re looking at 2021’s Willy’s Wonderland
Stuck in a town, a man (Nicolas Cage) takes a temp job cleaning a family restaurant but comes face to face with several demonic animatronics.
Is it Scary?
Nah, in fact there are no jump scares in the whole movie but Willy’s Wonderland isn’t going for that kind of horror. There are a couple of gory scenes but nothing that will make you queasy.
You won’t have trouble sleeping at night unless you live in a home with animatronics but then, that’s you’re own damn fault.
Detailed Plot:
The film opens with a video for a place called Willy’s Wonderland and showing multiple animatronics singing happy birthday at a kids party. While the song plays, we see a couple wearing Willy’s Wonderland shirts, running from something through dimly lit halls.
The man trips and is dragged away by something. Unable to do anything, the woman keeps running and it’s revealed the two were in the back halls of Willy’s Wonderland.
Entering a larger area, the woman spots a child hiding in a bathroom and smiles. Before she can do anything else, the woman is attacked and killed with her blood splattering over the same tv playing the Willy’s Wonderland video.
We cut to a blue Chevy Camaro speeding down the road and coming to a stop after hitting a spike trap. The driver exits and it’s revealed to be our silent main character (played by Nicolas Cage) who doesn’t have a name so we’ll just refer to him as Nic. Once I see the credits I’ll change it to whatever name the movie gives him… maybe.
Post Movie Update: Turns out it’s The Janitor but I’m too lazy to go back and change every instance of Nic. Also he’s not The Janitor when we first meet him so that’s my justification.
Nic walks over to the spike trap, collects it, and places it in his trunk. He also grabs a can of PUNCH which appears to be an energy drink and chugs it. A tow truck finally arrives driven by a very talkative Jed who tells Nic some kids stole the spike trap a while back.
We cut to our other main character, Liv (played by Emily Tosta), who is pouring gasoline all over the outside of Willy’s Wonderland. As she goes to light it, she’s stopped by the sheriff and arrested.
Later while the sheriff (played by Beth Grant) pulls a handcuffed Liv out of the car, Jed pulls up with Nic. He tells the sheriff about his silent passenger and Liv stares at Nic as if she knows him or knows something bad is going to happen.
Turns out the sheriff is Liv’s mom and instead of taking her to jail, she handcuffs her to a pipe in their trailer home. Before she leaves, she tells Liv there’s no way in hell she’s going to let her go out at night and gives her a bucket in case she has to pee. So, not the greatest mom.
At Jed’s shop, Nic notices a board full of missing posters which is a weird thing to see anywhere except Derry, Maine. Jed tells him it’s going to cost $1000 for the tow and to replace all four tires. When Nic tries to pay with a card, he’s told they don’t accept cards and the ATMs have never worked. This feels like a trap…
With no other way to pay Jed tells him he knows a guy who will give him a job to do and will pay for the repairs. Nic simply nods in agreement and before he leaves his car, he grabs a burlap sack full of PUNCH cans.
Jed takes him to Willy’s Wonderland where Nic meets Tex who offers to pay for all the repairs in exchange of working one night cleaning Willy’s Wonderland. Nic shakes his hand in agreement and the two head inside.
We learn several years ago Willy’s Wonderland was a hotspot for kids’ birthdays but, after multiple kids were injured from climbing on the animatronics, Willy’s was sued and had to shut down. Of course this is Tex’s story but something tells me this isn’t the whole story and that something is the people we saw murdered at the start.
As far as animatronics we have eight in total: From far left to far right we have Siren Sara, Ozzie Ostrich, Knighty Knight, Willy, Gus Gorilla, Tito Turtle, Arty Alligator, and Cammy Chameleon.
While Nic has his back turned on the animatronics, Willy moves which Nic hears and turns around to face Willy. He stares down the animatronic but it doesn’t move again.
Tex shows Nic to the cleaning closet and gives him a Willy’s Wonderland shirt. Before he leaves he tells Nic to ensure he always takes breaks. Outside, Tex tells Jed they should leave as he doesn’t like hearing a grown man scream.
Back at Liv’s trailer, her friends arrive and free her from the handcuffs. It turns out the kids know the animatronics are evil killers since they all know exactly what Liv is referring to when she says she saw the next victim with Jed. The group agrees to help burn the place down and leave for Willy’s Wonderland.
From left to right we have Caylee Cowan as the a little too excited to burn something down, Kathy; Terayle Hill as Kathy’s boyfriend, Bob; Kai Kadlec as the one who has a crush on Liv, Chris; Jonathan Mercedes as Dan, and Christian Del Grosso as Aaron. This is honestly the extent of all their personalities.
Back at Willy’s Nic changes into a Willy’s Wonderland shirt and starts the timer on his watch. He starts cleaning and honestly seems to be doing a pretty good job. Behind him the animatronics move but stop when Nic turns to see them.
Next Nic begins cleaning the kitchen but not before he puts his PUNCH cans in the fridge. His alarm goes off and he enjoys a can of PUNCH. As he drinks he notices a pinball machine in the corner and admires it.
His alarm rings and it’s right back to cleaning. This time as he mops, the Ozzie Ostrich decides to make its move and appears right behind him. For some reason this doesn’t shock Nic at all.
Nic pokes Ozzie with his mop until Ozzie finally reacts saying it’s going to feast on his face. Ozzie tries to strike Nic with its pecker but Nic easily dodges several attempts. Ozzie finally gets Nic on the cheek, leaving a scratch, which makes Nic smile maniacally.
He fights back by breaking the mop and using them as batons, easily beating back Ozzie. Using a mop-baton he swipes at Ozzie’s legs bringing him down and then bashes his head in. As black oil, ooze, goo, or blood (?) spews out of Ozzie, Nic reaches into it and rips out his cord.
At the police station, the sheriff sits with her deputy in silence waiting by the phone. The deputy questions why she requested backup randomly but doesn’t get a straight answer. This makes me wonder who exactly knows what’s going on. It seems the Sheriff, Jed, and Tex know as well as the kids but why wouldn’t the deputy know?
Back at Willy’s, Nic heads to the closet to change into another Willy’s Wonderland shirt and uses duct tape to cover the cut on his face. Again, not even slightly shocked about what just happened. After putting Ozzie’s body in a garbage bag and attempting to throw it out, Nic finds out the door has been chained up preventing him from leaving.
This doesn’t seem to bother him either and his alarm rings which means it’s time for a break. Chugging another can of PUNCH he cleans the pinball machine but doesn’t have time to play as his alarm goes off and his break is over. Time to clean the bathrooms!
We see a quick time lapse of Nic getting the bathroom spotless and now I want to know what cleaner he’s using because that is more than the power of pine-sol, baby. As he finishes, the animatronics turn on and begin singing the birthday song. Nic leaves the bathroom and heads to the main room, flipping the switch to turn off the animatronics.
Returning to the bathroom, he sees someone or something has written “It’s Your Birthday” on the mirror in blood. I mean, I think it’s blood but where did it come from? Their insides are oil. Do they keep blood handy for anytime they want to freak people out?
As he cleans this off, it looks like Willy or another animatronic uses some form of telekinesis to shut all the bathroom doors behind Nic. He opens all one by one finding them empty but is then attacked by Gus Gorilla who was hanging on the ceiling.
The two fight with Gus gaining the upper hand and throwing Nic into a stall. Opening it, Nic emerges with a plunger and jams it into the gorilla’s face. Pushing him back, he grabs Gus and throws him towards the urinals. He then positions Gus’s head onto a urinal and curb stomps him causing black goo to explode out of him, killing him.
Nic heads back to the closet, changes into another clean Willy’s Wonderland shirt, and uses duct tape to wrap up his stomach as it appears he may have suffered a broken rib. Placing Gus in a garbage bag and taking him to the front door, Nic has a stare down with Willy but it’s break time.
Outside Liv and her friends arrive with gas cans and pour gasoline all around the building. Once they’re finished, Aaron is stopped from lighting the gas by Liv who says they have to get Nic out first. Liv taps on the glass, yelling at Nic to leave but he’s busy cleaning and ignores her.
The group argue about what to do next with most of them willing to burn the place down with Nic inside, but Liv is adamant about saving him and Chris agrees. The rest of the group relent and Liv tells them she’s going inside alone as she wants them to look for a way out for her.
Finding a ridiculously large vent Liv climbs in and crawls around but is soon chased by Arty Alligator. Rushing through the vents, she’s able to escape Arty’s chompers and falls into a room resembling a forest with fake trees.
Turns out this is Sara Siren’s home and she starts taunting Liv asking her if she wants to play. Sara appears behind Liv who tries to swing at her but Sara easily dodges, escaping into the fake trees.
Unable to keep up with her movements, Liv can only scream as Sara Siren grabs her and takes her somewhere unknown.
Her scream is heard by Nic as well as the entire group outside who decide they need to get inside to help her. Meanwhile Nic investigates Sara Siren’s home and finds a leaf with black goo on it. Liv falls from a tree and tells Nic she stabbed Sara but it won’t keep her away for long. Before she can finish her sentence Nic turns around and leaves the room.
Outside, the group have found a way inside through the roof but they argue whether they should go inside as it would put them all in danger. Chris, because of his crush, naturally wants to go in but Bob thinks it’s crazy and tells him doing so won’t make Liv like him. If you’re asking which one is Bob again, don’t worry, it doesn’t matter.
Bob decides to walk away but Chris tackles him and the two fall through the roof into the ball pit in the main room. The roof then collapses, dropping the rest of the group into the ball pit as well.
Liv walks in and flips out seeing the group there as they were supposed to be looking for a way out but the argument ends as the Willy’s Wonderland music begins to play. The animatronics on the stage start to sing and Liv spots Sara Siren. She runs over with her switchblade but is stopped by Nic.
Nic carries her to a nearby table and takes her switchblade. The group realize Nic has killed two animatronics and follow him when he leaves the room… Except for Bob and Kathy who see a sign to the “Super Happy Fun Room” and decide to go there instead.
In the kitchen Liv provides an exposition dump on Willy’s Wonderland as she tries to convince Nic to leave. We find out the creator of Willy’s Wonderland was Jerry Robert Willis, a sadistic serial killer who employed other serial killers at Willy’s.
The group would lure families to “Super Happy Fun Room” under the guise of a child’s birthday and then kill them. After some time, police were alerted and raided Willy’s, only to find the serial killer group had killed themselves in a satanic ritual that, some believe, transferred their souls into the animatronics.
Ten years later in 2006, Tex purchased and reopened Willy’s but almost immediately people reported moving animatronics and violent accidents. After Tex was forced to close, he made a deal with Willy and the devil to not bulldoze the property. Since then he and Jed have been tricking those passing through to work at Willy’s Wonderland, using them as a sacrifice.
The group finally realize Bob and Kathy are missing and we cut to them entering the “Super Happy Fun Room”. Weirdly, Kathy gets turned on from being in the room where the serial killers performed the satanic ritual and the two have sex. I feel like this is a kink that’s totally okay to shame.
The animatronics in the main room turn on catching the attention of Liv and the rest of her group. They watch as the Willy animatronic sings a song that seems to be referencing them. At the end of the song Knighty Knight appears behind Aaron and drives his sword through him, fatally injuring him.
Liv pushes Knighty Knight to the ground and rushes to Aaron while telling Chris and Dan to run. Where’s our silent protagonist? Well it’s break time so he’s drinking PUNCH and playing pinball. Chris runs into a room and, while hiding behind an arcade machine, he calls the sheriff.
Right after telling her he’s at Willy’s the sheriff hangs up telling the deputy it’s a prank call. Chris calls again and they let the answering machine get it but the sheriff picks up when Chris says Liv brought them there. The sheriff tells him to get out of there and then tosses the deputy a shotgun, telling him they’re going to Willy’s.
Meanwhile Dan has run into a different room with strobing lights and is attacked by Sara Siren who tosses him into a foam pit. Tito Turtle and Sara Siren then hop on top of him and eat him.
In the kitchen, Nic’s break has ended and after tossing out his PUNCH can, he heads to the main room where Knighty Knight is about to kill Liv. Nic arrives just in time to stop him tossing it’s sword aside. He easily throws the Knight across the room and smashes his head against the wall multiple times until black goo starts pouring out.
Meanwhile Liv just watches in shock for a while which makes for a pretty funny scene. Nic slams Knight on the ground, grabs the Knight’s sword, and decapitates him.
Back with Bob and Kathy who are still getting it on until they notice Arty Alligator is watching them from a corner. Though they continue having sex, Kathy stops when she sees Arty move. But, when Bob looks, its gone only to reappear right next to them and chomp down on Bob.
As Bob dies, Kathy tries to run out of the room but the door locked. Liv hears her screams but is unable to get the door open until Nic kicks it right off of its hinges. Unfortunately they are too late and Kathy has also been chomped on.
Arty notices the two and goes for the attack but Nic quickly gains the upper hand punching Arty multiple times and climbing on top of him. He then forces his jaw apart and reaches into his mouth pulling out his wires, killing him.
In the arcade room, Chris is still hiding when Cammy Chameleon walks in and asks him to stop hiding. It tells him a sob story about how it’s not a killer like the others and is constantly picked on by them. Obviously Chris doesn’t fall for the story and stays hidden… nah he falls for it and reveals himself. Cammy tells him she wants help getting to the other side.
Back with the Sheriff and the deputy we get another exposition dump where it turns out Tex and Jed aren’t the only ones in on the deal. The sheriff tells the deputy that back in 2006, after closing Willy’s, they tried to tell outsiders that something supernatural was going on but no one believed them.
Tex hired a demolition crew but the day before the demolition, the contractor and his family were found eviscerated in their homes. After that no one would dare take the job. The town decided to just leave Willy’s standing and just keep everyone away.
But, the animatronics started getting out in order to feed and the sheriff found multiple dead bodies all over town. Believing they had no other choice, the sheriff, Tex, and Jed made a deal with the animatronics to feed them outsiders as long as they agreed to stay at Willy’s Wonderland and not attack locals.
We see a quick montage of multiple families throughout the years being tricked by Tex and Jed to stay at Willy’s where they’re eventually murdered. See, montages aren’t always fun.
Next, we see the same couple from the beginning of the movie and find out the child the woman saw was her daughter who was hiding from the animatronics. Later when the Sheriff and Tex arrived to clean up the mess, the sheriff spotted the girl and took her as her own, that girl is Liv.
Back in the arcade room the fool Chris has fallen for Cammy’s story and thinks they can make a deal to escape. Liv enters the room and he tries to tell her it’s okay but Cammy uses it’s tongue to snap his neck.
Cammy turns towards Liv and Nic enters the room ready to fight but his alarm goes off so it’s break time. His facial expressions seem to debate what to do but appearing as if he has no choice, Nic leaves the room. Before he does, he gives Liv the switchblade.
While Nic enjoys a PUNCH and plays pinball, Liv fights with Cammy… and it’s not going well for Liv. The two go back and forth for some time with Liv able to stab Cammy several times but just as Cammy gains the upper hand, Nic’s break is over. Using a cable, he latches onto Cammy and slams her against multiple arcade games.
Instead of killing her he drags her through the halls where Tito and Sara are waiting. Without any trouble or hesitation, Nic punches them both out cold. Proceeding to the front door with Liv and Cammy, Nic kicks it open only to have the sheriff appear pointing a shotgun at him.
Fearing Nic’s actions will further incite anger from Willy’s crew, the sheriff begs for forgiveness and states his actions are his own and not a reflection of the town.
The sheriff orders the deputy to handcuff Nic and to take Liv outside. Liv refuses but the deputy drags her out anyway. Outside, the sheriff tells the deputy to put her in a cell and then return for her as she’s going to stay to ensure the job is done.
Inside Cammy Chameleon and Sara Siren prepare to attack an unworried looking Nic who, I want to reiterate, is still handcuffed. Nic sort of pulls a Fonzi by kicking a machine that starts playing music, unfortunately that music is “Head Shoulder Knees and Toes”.
Headbutting both Sara and Cammy, Nic climbs atop Sara and uses his thighs to snap her neck. He then breaks the handcuffs, which I’m pretty sure were zip ties but there’s never a good angle to verify. Anyway, Nic snaps Cammy’s neck.
Meanwhile as the deputy drives Liv to the station, Liv argues with him about his actions and calls him a murderer. This causes the deputy to stop the car and try to defend his actions but it’s pretty hard to do as he left Nic handcuffed with a group of killer animatronics.
Liv’s words get to the deputy and he vows to make things right. Just as he’s about to turn the car around, Tito Turtle appears and drags him out of the car.
As Tito kills the deputy Liv finds the shotgun and points it at Tito demanding the keys. Instead Tito takes them from the deputy’s body and tosses them into the forest. Liv tries to shoot but Tito reveals he took the bullets (fucking when?) so she instead beats him with the shotgun until Tito begs her to stop.
So… she does stop… even though her goal in the movie was to kill them all. This is one of those “don’t ask questions and just enjoy the ride” movies.
Back at Willy’s, Nic changes his shirt to a fresh Willy’s Wonderland one and continues to clean, including gathering up all the dead bodies. Break time! This time as he enjoys a PUNCH drink and plays pinball, he gets really into it including dancing and pumping his fist in the air.
After break is over, Nic throws the garbage out in the dumpster where the Sheriff spots him. He simply waves at her and goes back inside. Unsurprisingly the sheriff runs up to him pointing her gun at him and follows him inside.
There, she blames Nic for the deaths of Liv’s friends which doesn’t make sense but okay. She then calls out for Willy so he can eat Nic. Willy appears but instead of attacking Nic he pops up behind the sheriff and rips off the top half of her body in one swipe.
Willy then attacks Nic, tossing him against the wall which disorients him. Using his sharp claws Willy slashes at Nic causing deep gashes on his back. He then throws him into the ball pit where I guess he assumed he was dead because Willy just walks away.
Nic is totally not dead and moments later climbs out of the ball pit. He heads for the kitchen where he grabs all of his PUNCH cans and puts them in his burlap sack as well as taping the two pieces of the mop handle together.
Heading back into the main room Nic and Willy stare each other down and prepare for their final fight.
The two go back and forth with Nic using the sticks and bag of PUNCH to… punch Willy eventually gaining the upper hand. Continuing to bash him, Willy starts oozing black goo and Nic rips his freaking head off ending Willy for good.
Outside it’s now daytime as Tex arrives while Jed also arrives in Nic’s now fixed car, both unaware of the previous night’s events. Meanwhile in the trash, we see a quick glimpse of a still alive Sara ripping through her garbage bag and spotting the gas canisters Liv’s group brought earlier.
Tex looks inside Willy’s and sees it completely clean. To the shock of Tex and Jed, Nic appears and requests his keys by sticking his hand out, he still doesn’t talk. Outside Liv finally arrives back just as Nic is exiting Willy’s and the two get into his car and drive off.
Tex and Jed celebrate being free of Willy and they enter his car discussing the possibility of finally opening up Willy’s again under a different name. But Tex spots Sara Siren through his rearview mirror who, having used the gasoline, blows up the car and herself.
The film ends as Nic is about to drink another can of PUNCH but instead hands it to Liv who drinks it. The two then spot Tito Turtle, badly injured on the road and run him over.
Review:
Willy’s Wonderland is a ridiculous movie with some characters that make some really dumb decisions and yet, it’s extremely entertaining and fun. Mainly this only works because the movie doesn’t take itself seriously at all. It’s a movie about killer animatronics with a hero who doesn’t speak and sticks to a strict break schedule and it knows this. There’s no hidden meaning, no lesson to impart, no social commentary to make, it’s just dumb fun at it’s finest.
The acting is pretty good for most of the cast especially the less-talkative John Wick like Nicolas Cage who conveys a lot through body language. Usually it’s violence but you get the point. There are a few clichés, like Liv’s entire friend group who each fit a common character trope. Some also don’t get any characterization but that’s mainly because they’re dead 30 minutes after we meet them.
Overall Willy’s Wonderland is a great movie to watch if you just want to watch something that is fun and a bit gory. Don’t expect to have your mind-blown by anything in it though and honestly sometimes that’s not a bad thing if you’re also being entertained.
Cast IMDB