By Geno McGahee
A campfire setting is always good for a horror anthology. There are plenty of horror films that adopt the name “CAMPFIRE TALES” or some variation because that is part of the experience. You sit around a campfire and tell scary stories and that is the setting for the 1990 film “THE WILLIES.”
This is one of those “all audience” horror films but it is still really enjoyable. The three kids sit around a campfire and tell the stories that they heard from somebody that knew somebody that was related to the person it happened to. We begin with a few very short films, including one where a fat woman orders a shitload of fried chicken and a chocolate shake. As you know, in horror films, all fat people are absolute slobs. She sits down to eat her chicken and bites into a fried rat. She screams about a dozen times and it was really funny.
The film has two major stories. The first involves a kid being bullied and the janitor taking notice. The janitor promises to take care of his problem and he has a great way to do it. He is not really human. He is a monster that brings justice to schools, killing bullies and dickhead teachers and he finds plenty of both in this story. Actually, the teacher in this story is so over the top bad that you are seriously rooting for the monster to take her out as soon as possible.
The monster is very cool looking and this story is pretty fun. I liked the concept. This is a very fun tale.
The second tale is about a fat kid that is nothing but trouble. He is very strange and is an outcast…with good reason. He collects dead flies and makes mock cities with their bodies. He also bakes them into cookies and feeds them to his classmates, which gets him into a lot of trouble.
On his way home from school, he breaks into a fertilizer business to steal some manure, but doesn’t know that this is genetically enhance manure that will have a huge impact on the flies that he hopes to attract. They become huge monster flies that want to kill him.
THE WILLIES is fun and it’s acceptable for all audiences. So, if you have kids and want to start them on horror, this is a good start. It’s funny at times and has enough ghoulish stuff to keep true to the genre. I recommend it!
Rating: 6/10
