Reed Alexander's Horror Review of 'Welcome to Willits' (2016)

Shh, shh, shh, shh! Shut the fuck up! Get your buddies, grab some drinks or some smoke, and put this on. Fucking do it.

SPOILERS!!!

So this movie is actually just some guy's meth fueled nightmare. It makes it one of the most brilliant slashers I've watched in a good long while, because you really get into the head of the killer and see the shit he's seeing. It's so bad, he even collectively drags his woman into it. I mean, by the description, this movie could have gone anywhere. Like, there might actually be aliens, there might be bigfoots, who fucking knows, you just have to watch to find out. And it spirals quickly into this dude's drug fueled delusions.

It's kinda like the movie The Voices (2014) in the sense that there are two realities the viewer gets to see. The first is the really real world, mostly viewed in the presence of the protagonist. Then there's the alien invasion that is part of this crazy tweaker's hallucinations. You see, these kids are just out looking for some hot springs and a good time. Unfortunately, they come across this base head who is two days into a meth bender caused by this special super meth he cooked up himself. He then goes on a killing spree of these poor dumb basters who just wandered onto his property because he thinks they're aliens. This even includes his niece who he thinks the aliens are controlling. This leads to an almost adorable scene with a tinfoil hat, but I digress. Point being, this guy is gonna murder a whole bunch of teenagers, because he thinks they're all aliens.

That premise for a slasher alone is worth watching this film. It's just so much damn fun. They really didn't care about too much else outside of making this movie fun. But like Primal (2010), it's actually good horror too. Yeah, it's silly and fun, but they hold NOTHING back, and there are times when what the tweaker is doing is actually quite terrifying. For one thing, you genuinely feel bad for the tweaker's niece. She just went to hang out with her uncle and he knocks her out and ties her up in the closet. Then there's this scene when the tweaker turns on his woman and it's just fucking heartbreaking. Like, they didn't even try to take this movie seriously, and yet, somehow, they still made real horror.

You know, they did everything right for what it was. The acting was 'good enough' for horror. Some of it is even surprisingly good. The atmosphere added to the kamp while still being aware that this is supposed to be scary. The rubber monsters they concoct are pretty good-looking for a budget film. At times the plot is even ironically aware of itself, which is just the icing on the cake. They had a vision for what they wanted and they bullseyed that shit.

You know, the tone of the whole thing is actually a lot like Popcorn (1991), not serious but still good. Actually, just like Popcorn, there's a whole damn movie running alongside the movie. Even better, the star of the meta-movie is Dolph fucking Lundgren. Dolph fucking Lundgren plays a bad cop bringing justice to the city with excessive force. It's fucking classic and it even ties in nicely with the tweaker's hallucinations.

Just... c'mon man! That shit? That shit right? It's fucking genius. Yeah, this movie isn't for everyone. Yeah, it takes a certain kind of Horror Head to appreciate these kinds of movies. But you know what? If you don't like this movie, fuck you. It was sloppy good fun and I fucking loved it.