Willy's Wonderland (2021)

Who’s decision was it to cast Nicholas Cage in a movie where he plays a transient who voluntarily cleans a haunted pizzeria and battles sentient animatronics… only for him not to say a word during the whole film? Whoever made that decision is an absolute genius.

In terms of theme or emotional resonance, I can’t say that this FNAF inspired film is anything special. It’s definitely just one of those movies that wanted to be a little crazy and got to do exactly that.

After being conned into needing car repairs by the people of a small town in Nevada (getting definite “Madness” vibes from that), Cage is offered to have his debt expunged if he cleans out the old Willy’s Wonderland family entertainment center. Little does he know that the animatronics are alive and out for blood. It does not take him long to discover this, though, as one comes to life while he’s cleaning. The funny thing is that Cage not only take this as just a nuisance, but he defeats the robot, and goes right back to cleaning. It’s worth noting that the owner, Tex, and the mechanic, Jed (who gave him a lift in the first place), lock Cage inside the building… but Cage NEVER tries to get out. All he does in the entire movie is clean the building, fight the robots, drink purple soda, and plays pinball. To be honest, I got the vibe, several times, that his past was connected to these robots. But if it is, it’s never revealed, which made the joke all the more humourous to me.

Meanwhile, in a massively less interesting subplot, the town sheriff, Eloise Lund, arrests her adoptive daughter Liv for trying to burn down the Wonderland. Being a teen in a horror movie (and being somewhat intelligent for one, too), Liv escapes and enlists the help of her five friends to make another arson attempt and rescue Cage. Her five friends are Chris (the boy in love with her), Bob and Kathy (the couple), Dan, and Aaron, who exist purely to be animatronic fodder.

Liv manages to break into the facility and encounters Cage. Despite her attempts to get him to leave, as mentioned before, he never budges and just continues cleaning. When the other kids inadvertently get trapped in the building, too, they all die in really stupid, but very entertaining ways. It’s almost a love letter to films of horror past. Chris dies in front of Liv because he’s stupid enough to believe that the animatronic wants to help him. Bob and Kathy are slaughtered because they go off to have sex… in a building THEY KNOW is haunted by murderous robots, Aaron is killed by a knight with a sword, and Dan is devoured after venturing off from the group.

The backstory is revealed: the previous owner was a serial killer whom would often kill and consume unsuspecting families, with his own cabal of similarly minded sickos. When the law closed in around them, they performed a Satanic suicide to transfer their souls into the animatronics. It’s further revealed, when Lund comes to rescue Liv, that the town KNEW that the animatronics were sentient, led by Willy Weasel, and continued killing after the building was condemned, so the townsfolk hatched a plan to sacrifice transients to Willy and his gang so the bots would leave the town alone.

Of course, the Cage man does not care about any of this. Sheriff Lund ties him up to sacrifice him and has the deputy take Liv away, after revealing that she was the survivor of a previous attack, which killed her parents. She escapes, having lost the deputy to a stowaway animatronic, and Willy kills Lund. Cage escapes, defeats Willy, and finishes cleaning the building, much to the bewilderment of Tex and Jed, who relinquish Cage’s car back to him. Liv hitches a ride with Cage, and they ride off into the sunset as Tex and Jed are blown apart by a surviving animatronic.

There’s also this small subplot about Cage fixing the pinball machine and trying to get the high score. It doesn’t do anything for the plot, but it’s a lot of fun to watch Cage abandon the teens and to see the animatronics leave him alone while he’s on break. Since the film is lacking on a theme (the closest you could probably find is something along the lines of “there is a price to be paid for every secret you keep”), Cage doesn’t differ between the beginning and the end of the film. Normally, I would chastise a film that doesn’t have a decent character arc, but this doesn’t feel like a film that was made to make a point, other than returning to the true definition of film: entertainment.

In fact, I’ll bet an argument could be made that this movie is a satire of horror films in general. Think about it: the focal protagonist doesn’t change that much throughout the film, the monster is a folk legend with one part in reality and the other in fantasy, the innocent virgin is the only one to survive and drives most of the plot, the authority in the town is either clueless about the danger or is part of a conspiracy surrounding it, the monster fodder are comprised of teenage archetypes that die because they don’t make realistic decisions (seriously, who goes off in a facility that you know is haunted to have sex?), and the hero unrealistically survives injuries that caused others to die elsewhere. Either that, or the film is making fun of AI sentience and/or animatronics as a viable horror theme.

Nic Cage is, arguably, one of my favourite actors to watch. I know he’s capable of heart-felt and dramatic acting, but I love just watching him act crazy. My understanding is that he has various mannerisms in his performances that can irk some people and critics, but I always saw that as half the fun. That’s why it’s so funny to me that he doesn’t say a word (other than grunting) throughout the entire film. I seriously want to know who had the guts to suggest that because I want to shake that genius’ hand.

And I’ve got to say that The Janitor is an interesting character. Why doesn’t he talk? Why does he stick to a schedule and go on break when the animatronics could attack him while he’s vulnerable? Why is he so good at cleaning? How can he fit so many of the shirts that are provided to him? Where did he learn to fight? All these questions are never answered, and I think that’s the point. You’ve, no doubt, heard the expression: “Leave them wanting more.” I have so rarely seen it personified better than The Janitor. These are questions that I have that I hope NEVER get answered. The mystery just enhances my intrigue for this character and his reactions to everything else just add to the hilarity of the film and the situation. His nonchalance suggests that he either deals with this regularly or has dealt with worse. Or neither and he’s just a tough guy who loves his car and wants it back bad enough to end an oppressive reign of cannibalistic tyranny. Either way, he’s one of the most interesting characters that I’ve seen and he never says a word.

And Liv is fine, I guess. She’s kind of just there to exposit backstory. She may not be a typically generic horror protagonist, but is more like the protagonist at the end of the horror film: already hurt and trying everything she can do to survive. She has lost her naivete and has already started trying to solve the major problem. She has agency and she got empathy, so she’s a decent character. Her backstory is generic, though: protagonist has a connection to the monster from her past and must overcome that monster to let go of the past. I guess next to Cage fighting demon robots, I just found her boring.

The rest of the cast is pretty standard horror film. Sheriff Lund is cool in parts and has some compassion for Liv, but does just fulfill the role of horror-film-authority. The twist where she’s the one who struck the deal with Willy is clever, but just not interesting.

As mentioned previously, all of Liv’s friends are just inane teenage archetypes, placed there so we can have a body count. Every other character is forgettable, or just generic.

I did love the cinematography of the film, though. It really pops with heavy shadows and bright colours. Finally, a horror film that isn’t tint blue or green for “eeriness.” The camera work follows the action in a way that you don’t lose sight of the character’s surroundings and can clearly see what’s going on. There are a few moments where they use the strobe light technique and shaky cam, but that does make sense. I also appreciated the fight scenes being done with a heavier chiaroscuro, so as to help separate them from the rest of the film.

The fights are really well done, too. There’s always a lead up to them that evokes suspense and dread, there’s ton of oily gore, Nic Cage keeping a straight face while beating on a guy in a mascot costume. The music is always dark, ominous, and intense, with the exception of the fight scene set to a dramatic version of “head, shoulders, knees, and toes,” which I swear could’ve been inspired by Edgar Wright films. Even the final moves evoke a feeling of Mortal Kombat fatalities. Everything about the fight scenes work.

I suppose I should talk about the animatronics. Their designs are truly terrifying. I think part of the horror that came from the FNAF franchise (at least the first one) was that the designs, while creepy, were believable as child mascots. Here, I have no doubt that these monsters are killers. I particularly liked the Siren having a Mouth of Sauron vibe to it. Additionally, the way that the animatronics move is very fluid, believable, and energetic. I’m glad that they used costumes and real animatronics rather than coasting on CGI.

So, is this a good movie? Based on the fundamental factors of cinematography, music, editing, sound, acting, and even story… clearly yes. This isn’t like Kung Fury where the intention was to make a bad film and it was hilarious, nor is it like The Room where the hilarity came from how badly they failed at making a drama, nor is it even like The Dead Don’t Die where the movie’s premise was ruined by the heavy-handed delivery of its central theme. Willy’s Wonderland has a brilliant premise for a bad B-movie that had tons of support, talent, and money put into it, and it clearly shows on the screen. While the movie does forget to have a theme at its core, it fully recognizes that this isn’t a movie that needs one. The character of the Janitor is intriguing, mysterious, and fun to watch. The plot is simple, but there’s nothing wrong with simplicity. The characters might be archetypes, but they are serviceable. If I’m being honest, I think I would’ve preferred this as a short film without the standard horror subplot and losing most of the dialogue. But I’ll bet that’s what this movie’s pitch was: “What if an ordinary tough guy walked into a random horror film and had to deal with it?”

Bottom line, this movie is fun, silly, and (most importantly) entertaining.