Willy's Wonderland

 "Willy's Wonderland" (2021, Kevin Lewis, Landmark Studio Group, Baffin Media Ltd., Saturn Films, JD Entertainment, Landafar Entertainment).

A man of few, or actually no, words (Nicolas Cage) takes a job as a janitor at an abandoned family entertainment restaurant called "Willy's Wonderland" in order to pay for repairs to his car which have left him otherwise stranded in a small American town. 

The restaurant hosts some dilapidated animatronics including Willy the Weasel, Arty Alligator, Cammy Chameleon, Ozzie Ostrich, Tito Turtle, Knighty Knight, Gus Gorilla, and Siren Sara. The Janitor begins his long night shift taking short breaks to play a pinball machine and drink some energy drinks as well as occasionally change shirt. But it isn't long before he comes to learn that the animatronic animals are alive and blood thirsty.

After doing battle with one of the animatronics, the Janitor goes dutifully back to his chores, but is soon interrupted by a group of teens lead by Liv (Emily Tosta) who is hellbent on ending Willy's Wonderland's blight on the small town after her own ill-fated experience at the restaurant. 

Extremely reminiscent of the "Five Nights at Freddy's" games (which, if you're unfamiliar, are definitely worth seeking out), "Willy's Wonderland" couples an industrious protagonist just trying to do his job in spite of a menagerie of killer animatronics, with perhaps, understandably, a little less intrigue than the games. 

The premise is fun and Cage delivers an entertaining performance as the silent, straight faced Janitor, just dealing with things as they come up. 

The action does become a little samey and perhaps 8 animatronics was a little many, however, the film doesn't outstay its welcome at 88 minutes of run time and certainly delivers a fun and innovative collection of kills. 

Definitely worth checking out. 

[Image: Saturn Films, et al]

Hani

Dave Made a Maze

 "Dave Made a Maze" (2017, Bill Watterson, Gravitas Ventures, Butter Stories, Dave Made an LLC, Foton Pictures).

Annie (Meera Rohit Kumbhani) comes home from a weekend away to find a large cardboard thing in her livingroom. To make things weirder, the large cardboard thing contains her boyfriend, Dave (Nick Thune). Dave warns Annie not to enter his 'maze' for fear of getting lost and explains that he has been trapped within his cardboard creation for the full duration of Annie's trip. When Annie attempts to lift the maze to reveal Dave, Dave yells out and Annie decides to heed his warning. Confused, Annie seeks help from their friend, Gordon (Adam Busch), who then seeks the help of; Harry (James Urbaniak) and his film crew (Frank Caeti and Scott Narver), Leonnard (Scott Krinsky), Brynn (Stephanie Allynne), Greg (Tin Nordwind) and Jane (Kirsten Vangsness). Because that's not enough people to ponder this cardboard conundrum, they also bring over a local homeless man (Rick Overton) and two Flemish tourists (Drew Knigga and Kamilla Alnes).

After some pizza and a lot of pondering, the party decide to enter the cardboard maze. To their surprise, they discover that Dave was not lying and that the inside of the maze is much greater than its exterior looks. To their utter surprise, however, it soon becomes apparent that this maze has a mind of its own and that the maze's cardboard inhabitants may actually be dangerous. Can they find Dave and exit this maze or will they all meet a cardboardy doom?

A fantastically creative piece from the concept to the set design, to the characters. This film is so hard to put into any particular category. It really has to be experienced, to believe. The maze is a wonderfully inventive and sometimes creepy idea. It has an almost nostalgic feel to it. Like the cardboard equivalent of a Henson production. 

The cast deliver an excellent off the wall performance that fits the film so well, in it's otherworldliness. It was nice to see Adam Busch as a familiar face, and Meera Rohit Kumbhani is excellent as Annie. 

The film is not without its dark sides and we experience a surprisingly poignant reflection on serial project abandoner, Dave, and his relationship with his friends, Annie and also with himself. 

At 80 minutes, the film does not overstay its welcome and its sheer inventiveness keeps you engaged as a viewer. A genuine delight that is so worth checking out. You can't know entering the maze whether it's your thing or not. You just have to go in and find out.

Currently streaming on the Arrow Player and available to purchase elsewhere.

[Image: Dave Made an LLC, et al]

Hani

Death Note

"Death Note" (2017, Adam Wingard, LP Entertainment, Vertigo Entertainment, Lin Pictures, Netflix) is an American horror film based on the Japanese Manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.

Light Turner (Nat Wolff) is a high school student. He's not popular, he's not athletic and he makes cash on the side through doing others' homework. When Light comes across a mysterious notebook and meets the sinister Ryuk (Willem Dafoe), a demonic death god, his life begins to change. Quickly unlocking the secrets of the notebook's power: to kill any individual properly targeted using the book, Light finds a kindred spirit in his crush, Mia (Margaret Qualley), and also attracts the unwanted attention of L (Lakeith Stanfield) , an FBI agent seeking to halt their murderous spree.

Although Light's original intentions may have been good, things become complicated and messy as time progresses and he becomes suspicious that Ryuk may not be on his side after all. The overall taking from this film is the old adage: 'power corrupts'.

The film offers some good qualities: Dafoe's performance as the creepy and charming Ryuk is very effective, and the aesthetics of the film are nicely put together. However, the film attempts to pack so much in to the run time that it feels slightly unfinished and focuses perhaps too much attention on the puppy-love aspect of the sub-plot as opposed to mysteries of the notebook or of Ryuk. The ending is also convoluted and felt unhinged from the rest of the film.

I've learned that as well as removing the story from Japan to suit a more Western audience, the film has made other changes to the plot and characters as to make this version very different from the base material. I am not much of a Manga reader, but I feel intrigued now to search "Death Note" out and give it a whirl, if anything to understand the base material more and perhaps seek a better appreciation for this interesting story.

[Image: Netflix]

Hani

Christine

"Christine" (1983, John Carpenter, Columbia Pictures, Delphi Premier Productions, Polar Film) is the film adaptation of Stephen King's novel, "Christine".

I'm on a bit of a John Carpenter kick.

Christine is a sentient 1978 Plymouth Fury car. She's furious and out for blood. Anyone's blood. She is purchased by Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon), an unpopular nerdy teen who plans to bring her back to her former glory. Christine is grateful to him. She just likes to show her gratitude in strange ways.... like attempting to murder Arnie's best friend, or his class bullies... Or, well, anyone really. Arnie becomes obsessed with his new metal lady-love and cannot look away.

Although I enjoyed the book and I am a fan of Carpenter's films, I'll admit to being a little bored with this film after a while. The car is pretty and the music is superb, but in the main there's only so much fear that can be derived from an angry killer car with a sarcastic stereo. The action, naturally, becomes very same-y and the film suffers for that in my opinion.

[Image: Columbia Pictures]

Hani

Shutter

"Shutter" (2008, Masayuki Ochiai, Regency Enterprises, New Recency, Vertigo Entertainment, 20th Century Fox) is an American ghost horror based in Tokyo about a haunted camera.... Kind of. It is a remake of the 2004 Thai horror film with the same name.

Ben (Joshua Jackson) and Jane (Rachael Taylor) seem  like a perfect couple at first. We see them at their wedding, smiling away. We see them coming home together - still smiling. We see them set off to live in Tokyo where Ben, a photographer, has gotten a job with some friends he used to work with in Japan before. On their travels, Jane accidentally hits a young girl in a white dress who was standing in the middle of a dark road. They wreck their car and Jane frantically hunts for the girl, but to no avail; she is gone, along with any trace of her.

With their new exciting life in Japan already off to a less than idyllic start, Jane is further disillusioned once she reaches their destination. Although their apartment is huge, Ben is working all the time. She also doesn't speak any Japanese and feels like an outsider as she wanders aimlessly around the city and when she gets home she is surrounded by beautiful models and fashion entourage who make her feel even more like an outsider. Ben doesn't really notice any of this as he gets stuck back in with his friends and colleagues, getting to shoot fancy magazine pieces.

Jane is so happy when their wedding photos arrive and is dismayed to find that there is a white, ghostly mark through most of them. Confused she asks Ben, who convinces her that there was something faulty with the development and that it will be OK. But Jane is unconvinced as she goes through their honeymoon photos and even her own city snaps to find the same mark is present on all of them - and they were all taken with different cameras in different mediums...

Ben is not convinced, but Jane is adamant that the girl she struck on the road had died and is haunting them. She sets herself to uncover the mystery, but as she delves deeper she begins to regret it as things begin to make sense...

A really good jump scare horror with a dark and twisted plot and some creepy imagery. It has all of the edge and creep of a good J-horror movie, but also a few hollywood horror tropes. The girl haunting them, Megumi (Megumi Tanaka), is your average onryō vengeful spirit with a sad tale to tell, but she is perfectly realised and does not just lift all of the hallmarks from other famous J-horror ghosts. She is sadder. It is like she doesn't want to kill them, but she is compelled to. All of the cast are pretty good in their roles and the sliding of the perfect relationship into this hellish nightmare is captured well.

While it's nothing novel the film is effective in a Saturday night movie kind of way and has a couple of scary moments that I appreciated. I really want to see the Thai version now as it is bound to be much, much scarier!

[Image: 20th Century Fox, et al[

Hani

Dead Silence

"Dead Silence" (2006, Universal Studios, Burg/Koules/Hoffman, James Wan) is quite a classic style ghost story with a nicely added creep factor from an old favourite: The Ventriloquist's Dummy! If you read the "Goosebumps" story about 'Slappy' the dummy as a kid or have seen 'Magic' starring Anthony Hopkins, you may enjoy this film for that fact alone.

Jamie (Ryan Kwanten - aka Jason Stackhouse from "True Blood") comes home to his wife, Lisa (Laura Regan) to find that a strange package has arrived for him containing a Ventriloquist dummy called Billy. Perplexed, he sits it aside and goes to get some Chinese food for dinner. When he returns Lisa has been murdered, her tongue ripped from her mouth. The dummy is lying on the floor.

Naturally, Jamie is suspected to have murdered Lisa, but since there is no clear evidence, they can't hold him. And against the wishes of Detective Jim Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg), Jamie returns to he and Lisa's small hometown of Raven's Fair. In Raven's Fair there is a local ghost story about the once famous lady ventriloquist, Mary Shaw (Judith Roberts), who was suspected to have murdered a young boy and had been brutally murdered by several local men. The tale states that she hunts down relations of her killers and will kill anyone who screams in the presence of her ghost, taking both their life and their voice to add to her repertoire...

There is also, of course, the obligatory creepy child's rhyme.

Jamie goes on the hunt to uncover the truth behind the tale and stop the murderous ghost and her 101 creepy wooden 'children'.

A good yarn with some classic charm. The tale is slightly cheesy, but in the horror world this is no negative thing. Often films attempting to break the mould wind up falling flat on their face. "Dead Silence" exploits the creepy, traditional surroundings perfectly, making an obvious but effective situation for the story. The large old, carefully unlit house, the mortuary, the cellars, the abandoned theatre, the river, ghostly reflections, flowing raggedy curtains, creepy woods, graveyards with dead trees, cobwebs and fog; this film has it all!

Considering that this film is from the people behind "Saw", I was pleasantly surprised to see such a classically styled plot. "Saw" broke into some new settings horror-wise, when it was released and was creative, twisted and gory. The rest of the franchise, however, I have little time for, as they helped create and enter into the 'horror porn' arena and lost their sense of purpose and plot. "Dead Silence", although not particularly creative, keeps the horror coming and well placed gore to a conventional and very effective pace.

The ghost is scary and unrelenting, in a way that is almost from a mind similar to Sam Raimi. The dummies are creepy and effectively used, with surprisingly little overall movement, keeping things creepy and not delving into the ludicrous world of "Puppet Master".

The makeup is good, the special effects are satisfying and I enjoyed the performances of the actors, in particular heartbroken and determined Kwanten and confused and serious Wahlberg. People have complained that the characters are boring, but remember that this film is set in a small town and the people are scared shitless of a homicidal ghost... considering all that the characters are quite lifelike, really...

The addition of the mortician, Henry (Michael Fairman), was a good plot device, similar to the character of Mr. Bentley in "The Woman In Black". Other side characters seemed slightly unnecessary and didn't add much to the plot.

Overall, a fun little nail biter, that may give you a jump or two. Nothing too creative, but unworthy of all the negative comments it has received in the past. Especially considering that most of the complainers probably rate "Hostel" as an excellent horror... Tasteless idiots! I see nothing wrong with some charming old fashioned story telling, in today's modern world of cheap remakes and terrible plotless bloodfests.

Screenwriter Leigh Whannell has all but disowned this film, feeling it to be a bad effort and a blot on his CV. As much as it's certainly no "Poltergeist", I'm glad he has come to terms with the fact that this film mainly 'failed' due to the Corporate machine treading all over the creativity.

There are an alternative beginning and ending, and I feel the alternative ending may have been better than that actually selected for the film. But that's just me.

Again, this a film of many names including "Shhh..." which has got to be one of the worst names ever!

The twist can be seen coming by weathered horror fans and anyone paying really any attention to the scenes, but may surprise a few young teens new to the wonderful world of horror or any non-careful watchers.

Worth a try on a dark night with someone who hates dolls! But remember not to scream!

 [Picture: Universal Pictures & IGN.com]

Hani

Rubber

"Rubber" (2010, Quentin Dupieux, UFO Distribution) is a French film. In essence and appearance, the film is about Robert, a car tyre who becomes sentient and begins rolling along destroying things and people in its wake with its psychokinetic powers.

In reality, the film is a clever, but none too subtle, comment on modern film making, modern audiences and the industry as a whole.

Put it this way, everyone who's ever watched this movie, has went in to see a living, lunatic car tyre kill people. And Dupieux has successfully made every single person instead watch his comments on life and film. If that doesn't make you respect the man, nothing will!

It is based in the American desert where a group of strangers are gathered to watch the events of the film in real time. We are meant to just accept that they can see everything as clearly as we, through their binoculars. And you will accept that fact, and that's the point.

A long and dead-pan introduction from Lieutenant Chad (Stephen Spinella) pretty much summarises this film's point. He explains that every film has something happen in it for "no reason" and that life contains infinite elements of "no reason". And for that reason, audiences will accept absurd things happening for "no reason". His very arrival to the scene already proves this fact (watch it, it's weird) as does the binoculars as stated above.

I won't give too much away, but don't be put off by this film's interesting story telling technique. It's very quiet and slow paced, but is not a long movie, so the pace only feels slow. The film is intriguing and there's some good gore.

Also, Robert the tyre finds a love interest in the form of Sheila (Roxane Mesquida), an odd young French woman travelling across America in her snazzy red convertible. Although, being a psychopath, Robert instead decides to stalk her while he kills everyone else.

What I think Dupieux is saying in this film is that modern movies, and especially B-movies, try too hard to be 'out there'. The very end scene of this as we roll towards Hollywood not only sets up a possible sequel (something almost every film does these days) but also gives us the impression that Robert is taking his anger to the home of film.

The entire movie was filmed with digital camera, and all of the special effects were the good old fashioned kind; remote control, puppeteering, fake blood, explosions, clever filming techniques and editing.

I enjoyed the randomness of this film and the sheer WTF moments. This film will intrigue and confuse you and on some basic level you will 'get it'. I think what I like about "Rubber", other than all the exploding heads and random events, is that you can really take out of this film whatever you want! If you want to go away thinking it was a deep message about society accepting whatever's put in front of them, you can. If you want to go away thinking it's about a psychopathic tyre, you can! And if you want to go away thinking it was a meaningful message about men in wheelchairs having some kind of second stomach, then you can indeed do that!

A strange and entertaining film. The actors gave a convincing performance as either confused or confusing characters. The bland and sparse setting also really added to the feel of the film.

I loved the reference to 'pirating films' and also the brilliant scene with the maid finding the tyre in the shower; an excellent homage to every bathroom-centred horror ever.

Also, when Robert is learning how to roll, the bottle of water he crushes is a brand I actually recognise (I feel special because you don't often get things like that happen in movies filmed in America, when you're British).

Not an obvious comedy, this film could be seen as an arty kind of movie. But the sheer volume in which my friend and I errupted into laughter at the clever and random scenes, is a comment on how masterful this seemingly simple, very absurd and extremely deadpan film really is. So many different levels to watch, this film doesn't just knock on the fourth wall, it batters it down and jumps into your livingroom!

A film within a film within a film. Something any Grindhouse fan would enjoy, too. Totally worth £1.50 on Amazon!

[Picture: UFO Distribution]

Hani