Willy's Wonderland

Willy's Wonderland
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kevin Lewis
Screenplay by	G. O. Parsons
Produced by	Nicolas Cage Grant Cramer Jeremy Davis David Ozer Bryan Lord
Starring	Nicolas Cage Emily Tosta Ric Reitz Chris Warner Kai Kadlec Christian Del Grosso Caylee Cowan Terayle Hill Jonathan Mercedes David Sheftell Beth Grant
Cinematography	David Newbert
Edited by	Ryan Liebert
Music by	Émoi
Production companies	Landmark Studio Group Baffin Media LTD Saturn Films JD Entertainment Landafar Entertainment
Distributed by	Screen Media Films
Release date	February 12, 2021 (2021-02-12) (United States)
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5 million[1]
Box office	$418,286[2][3]

Willy's Wonderland is a 2021 American action comedy horror film directed by Kevin Lewis from a screenplay by G. O. Parsons.^[4] The film stars Nicolas Cage, who also served as producer, along with Emily Tosta, Ric Reitz, Chris Warner, Kai Kadlec, Christian Del Grosso, Caylee Cowan, Terayle Hill, Jonathan Mercedes, David Sheftell and Beth Grant. It follows a quiet drifter who is tricked into cleaning up an abandoned family entertainment center haunted by eight murderous animatronic characters.

The project was announced in October 2019, with screenwriter Parsons having conceived the idea based on his 2016 short film Wally's Wonderland, which was also the script's original name. It caught Cage's attention, who agreed to participate as both an actor and a producer.^[5] Lewis was hired as director in December 2019 while the cast joined in February 2020.^[6] Prior to its release, the film received a small cult following due to sharing its premise with the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise.^[6]

Willy's Wonderland was originally set for a worldwide theatrical release on October 30, 2020, but was postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, it was released through video on demand, with a simultaneous limited theatrical release in the United States, on February 12, 2021 by Screen Media Films. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot[]

When his vehicle breaks down, a quiet drifter ends up stranded in Hayesville, Nevada, where mechanic Jed Love picks him up and takes him to Willy's Wonderland, a once-successful abandoned family entertainment center. Owner Tex Macadoo offers him to work as a night-shift janitor in exchange for repairing his vehicle before he and Jed leave him locked in the building. Meanwhile, teenager Liv Hawthorne gets handcuffed by her caretaker, Hayesville's sheriff Eloise Lund, due to her previous attempts to burn the restaurant. When Lund leaves, Liv's friends Chris Muley, Kathy Barnes, Aaron Powers, Bob McDaniel, and Dan Lorraine come and release her.

As the Janitor begins his duties, the restaurant's now-withered eight animatronic mascots—Willy Weasel, Arty Alligator, Cammy Chameleon, Ozzie Ostrich, Knighty Knight, Tito Turtle, Gus Gorilla, and Siren Sara— reveal to be sentient and aggressive. Ozzie attacks the Janitor, who beats him to death with a mop. While her friends douse the perimeter with gasoline, Liv decides to enter Willy's Wonderland through the vents to get the Janitor out. Meanwhile, the Janitor is attacked by Gus in the restrooms; he kills him by stomping his face into a urinal. In the vents, Liv is chased by Arty, but she escapes into a fairy-themed room where Sara attacks her. Liv manages to fend off Sara and encounters the Janitor, who ignores her warnings about the animatronics and refuses to leave.

Outside, Liv's friends climb to the roof, which collapses, causing them to fall into the building. While the Janitor cleans the kitchen, Liv explains that Willy's Wonderland was originally owned by notorious serial killer Jerry Robert Willis and his seven psychotic cannibalistic partners, who often murdered unsuspecting families. Eventually discovered, they committed a satanic ritual to transfer their souls into the animatronics. When she finishes, several animatronics become sentient and attack the group. In the ensuing chaos, Knighty impales Aaron with his sword, Sara and Tito devour Dan alive, and Arty mauls Kathy and Bob to death. With Liv's help, the Janitor decapitates Knighty and breaks Arty's jaws, killing them both. Stalked by Cammy in an arcade, Chris calls Lund for help; she goes there with deputy sheriff Evan Olson upon learning that Liv is in the restaurant. On the way, Lund reveals to Evan that after Willy's Wonderland was shut down, the animatronics continued murdering people around Hayesville until she, Tex, and Jed made a deal with them. Over years, they tricked stranded drifters into cleaning up the building, offering them as sacrifices to the animatronics in order to stop their killing spree. Liv's parents were among the victims and a guilty Lund adopted her.

When the Janitor and Liv arrive at the arcade, Cammy snaps Chris' neck, killing him. They subdue her and attempt to leave before Lund and Evan stop them. Lund handcuffs the Janitor and leaves him to die as Evan takes Liv away. While driving, Evan is attacked and killed by a stowaway Tito as Liv escapes. Back at the restaurant, the Janitor twists Cammy's head, killing her, and subdues Sara. Enraged, Lund tries to lure Willy to kill the Janitor, only for Willy to tear her in half. Willy and the Janitor fight each other until the Janitor rips his head off, killing him.

The next morning, Tex and Jed return to the building and find it completely clean, with the animatronics missing. The Janitor receives his repaired vehicle and invites Liv to accompany him. While Tex and Jed discuss planning to re-open Willy's Wonderland, Sara suddenly appears and sets their car on fire with gasoline. All three are killed in a massive explosion that also destroys the entire restaurant. As the sun rises, the Janitor and Liv drive out of Hayesville, running into and killing a wandering Tito along the way.

Cast[]

Animatronic characters[]

Production[]

Development[]

The film was first announced in October 2019 by Screen Media Films after screenwriter and producer G. O. Parsons was advised to create a film to expand his career, but was displeased with his first attempt, a short film titled Wally's Wonderland.^[7] He put the script on Blood List, seeking to have it produced as a full-length film.^[8] Shortly after, Deadline Hollywood confirmed that Nicolas Cage had joined the cast after the script, which became popular on the site, caught his attention.^[9] Cage also agreed to produce the film along with producers Jeremy Davis from JD Entertainment and veteran actor-turned-producer Grant Cramer from Landafar Entertainment, in collaboration with Mike Nilon from Cage's Saturn Films.^[6] Kevin Lewis was hired as director while the cast, including Emily Tosta, Beth Grant and Ric Reitz, joined in February 2020.^[10]

After the announcement, the film received a small cult following, with many comparing it to the Five Nights at Freddy's video game series, although Parsons and Lewis denied any similarities. The custom pinball machine in the film was based on the 1982 Gottlieb table Devil's Dare.^[11] Certain changes were made during production; the title was changed from Wally's Wonderland to Willy's Wonderland due to legal issues; and original animatronic characters Douglas Dog, Pauly Penguin, Beary Bear, Pirate Pete, and Regina Rabbit were replaced with Arty Alligator, Tito Turtle, Gus Gorilla, Knighty Knight, and Cammy Chameleon.

Filming and design[]

Principal photography began in February 2020 for a month in various parts of Atlanta, Georgia.^[12] The crew used a desolated bowling alley in the Sprayberry Crossing shopping center in East Cobb, Marietta for the fictional Willy's Wonderland family entertainment center, setting-up a huge basecamp with housing facilities for the crew members due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.^[13] Special effects for the film were done by production designer Molly Coffee, whose expertise in design and fabrication with puppetry helped to create the visual movement and appearance for the eight animatronic characters.^[13]

Music[]

On February 12, 2021, Filmtrax LTD released the score soundtrack for the film composed by Émoi. Producer Grant Cramer performed a track titled "Just The Way I Roll", which appeared in the film's end credits.^[14]

All tracks are written by Émoi.

Marketing[]

On January 29, 2021, to promote the film, G. O. Parsons announced on his Twitter feed that original Willy's Wonderland T-shirts identical to the staff shirt Nicolas Cage wears in the film, would be available.^[15]

Comic book series[]

On June 25, 2021, Parsons confirmed that American Mythology Productions would release a comic book series serving as a prequel to the film. Its first issue is set to be released in October 2021.^[16]

Release[]

Willy's Wonderland was scheduled for worldwide theatrical release on October 30, 2020, but was removed from the calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing the closure of theaters across the globe. It was announced on January 15, 2021 that it would be available for digital distribution. It was eventually released through video on demand and received a limited theatrical release on February 12, 2021.^[17]

Critical response[]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 61% based on 82 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Willy's Wonderland isn't quite as much fun as its premise would suggest -- but it's still got Nicolas Cage beating the hell out of bloodthirsty animatronics, which is nice."^[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 44 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[19]

Variety's Owen Gleiberman wrote: "Kevin Lewis's giant-furry-funhouse-mascot slasher movie knows how preposterous it is but plays it straight".^[20] Nick De Semlyn of Empire gave the film a score of three out of five stars, concluding that, "though the dialogue and plotting are no great shakes, that commitment to the concept, combined with Cage's swaggering soda-swigger, is enough to make this a good time."^[21] IGN's Matt Fowler rated the film six out of ten, writing that "There's not enough here to score high marks, but there's cartoonish carnage aplenty and that warrants a passing grade."^[22] Anton Bitel from VODzilla.com awarded the film a score of seven out of ten, saying: "It is set in an amusement centre for children, but comes with adult doses of foul-mouthed language, sex, gore and death. Its scenarios feel a little rote, but are enlivened by the craziness that Cage brings to everything".^[23]

Kimberley Elizabeth from Nightmare on Film Street gave the film a score of 7.5/10, commenting: "Nicolas Cage['s] unique brand of kickassery is the jelly to this animatronic PB & J Horror sandwich".^[24] Alix Turner of Ready Steady Cut wrote: "Daft plot, fabulous fight scenes, teenagers in peril and plenty of gore. Sure, the film could have been better, but it didn't exactly need to be: this was thoroughly entertaining" and gave to it a rating of 3.5 on 5.^[25] Charles Barfield of The Playlist gave a similar opinion and rated the film with a "B+".^[26] Nicolás Delgadillo of DiscussingFilm.net called the film "unapologetically ridiculous" and "a bizarre hidden gem thrown into Cage's already vast and eclectic body of work."^[27]

Potential sequel[]

In an interview, G. O. Parsons stated he had an idea for a sequel if the film got enough support.^[28] In February 2021, it was announced that a sequel was being actively discussed.^[29]

See also[]

• The Banana Splits Movie
• Five Nights at Freddy's

References[]

External links[]

• Willy's Wonderland at IMDb
• Willy's Wonderland at AllMovie