Oh man, I needed a good laugh...
Willy's Wonderland follows an unnamed loner who damages his car while travelling through a rural town. The local garage offers to fix it, but with limited outside world contact, no internet and no cash... he is unable to pay for repairs. That is, unless he helps out by working a night shift as the janitor at an abandoned local funhouse - called Willy's Wonderland. Fix the place up, protect it from break-ins, be sure to take regular breaks... and your car will be ready in the morning. Of course, he soon finds out this place has more going on than it seems...
Despite me seeing this after Five Nights at Freddy's, it actually came out 2 years earlier.... and what can I say apart from this is exactly the sort of thing that takes that idea and runs with it to great effect. Serving as more a horror/comedy of sorts rather than playing it straight, the basic idea is the same, i.e. Night worker gets trapped in a kids fun place with creepy killer robots. But wheres FNAF is creepy and delves into a tragic backstory and trauma, this take is, well quite frankly absurd.
It's hard to know where to even start with this, but can I just say that Nicolas Cage is Nicolas Caging here harder than Nicolas Cage has ever Nicolas Caged before. Not a single word is spoken by this mysterious ex-soldier, but his dead-pan unfazed delivery is absolutely perfect as we follow him through this absolute carnage fueled farce. There was a distinct turning point for me, when he has a stand-off against one of the robots, kicks the juke-box - and then proceeds to absolutely beat seven bells out of this thing all while 'head shoulders knees and toes' was playing in the background. I honestly don't think I've laughed so hard at a scene in all my life. From that point on, I was sold.
The whole film is full of stupid comedy like that, which perfectly juxtaposes against the extreme violence that is also on offer. Now, obviously it's not going to win any awards or anything, but man did I have a good time with this film. It's not the best film objectively, with a basic story, predictable scares and shallow characters, but it just doesn't matter. It made me laugh. A lot. And to that end, I'd highly recommend checking this out if you just want to kick back, turn your brain off and bask in the glorious nonsense that Willy's Wonderland delivers in spades...
Despite me seeing this after Five Nights at Freddy's, it actually came out 2 years earlier.... and what can I say apart from this is exactly the sort of thing that takes that idea and runs with it to great effect. Serving as more a horror/comedy of sorts rather than playing it straight, the basic idea is the same, i.e. Night worker gets trapped in a kids fun place with creepy killer robots. But wheres FNAF is creepy and delves into a tragic backstory and trauma, this take is, well quite frankly absurd.
It's hard to know where to even start with this, but can I just say that Nicolas Cage is Nicolas Caging here harder than Nicolas Cage has ever Nicolas Caged before. Not a single word is spoken by this mysterious ex-soldier, but his dead-pan unfazed delivery is absolutely perfect as we follow him through this absolute carnage fueled farce. There was a distinct turning point for me, when he has a stand-off against one of the robots, kicks the juke-box - and then proceeds to absolutely beat seven bells out of this thing all while 'head shoulders knees and toes' was playing in the background. I honestly don't think I've laughed so hard at a scene in all my life. From that point on, I was sold.
The whole film is full of stupid comedy like that, which perfectly juxtaposes against the extreme violence that is also on offer. Now, obviously it's not going to win any awards or anything, but man did I have a good time with this film. It's not the best film objectively, with a basic story, predictable scares and shallow characters, but it just doesn't matter. It made me laugh. A lot. And to that end, I'd highly recommend checking this out if you just want to kick back, turn your brain off and bask in the glorious nonsense that Willy's Wonderland delivers in spades...
- andy-oh-efff
- 29 nov. 2025