Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Willy's Wonderland Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 1, 2021

There was always something inherently creepy about the animatronic band at Chuck-E-Cheese. Even in naïve youth, full of pizza and pop, high on sugar, and dazzled by the lights and overloaded with the sounds from around the arcade floor, there was that underlying fear that those creatures were somehow, some way, not just an automated band but something more sinister, scanning the room in the guise of family-friendly entertainment in search of a new victim. That fear is reality in Willy’s Wonderland, a new Comedy-Horror film about a small town that fears the living, demon possessed animatronic band and provides it with regular human sacrifice. The film is brainless but it’s also brawny and bold, refusing to hold back and buying fully into the wild-eyed nightmare fantasy.

What should be a place of joy – fun, food, presents, and screaming children – became a nightmare for a town when a local party center’s animatronic band somehow found life beyond programming and began to murder those who would dare enter its doors. Fearful of the creatures yet somehow unwilling to burn the place down or take a shotgun to the hellish troublemakers, the townsfolk made a deal with their new overlord devils to bring them regular sacrifices in the form of nondescript out-of-towners in exchange for safety and security from their evil reach and ways.

The latest victim is a silent and mysterious man (Nicolas Cage) whose car runs afoul of a deliberately placed spike strip. He’ll have to pay the hefty repair price in cash which, in this day-and-age of plastic and digital money, he cannot muster. But fortunate would seem to smile on him when he’s offered a chance to work it off by spending the night in the long-abandoned Willy’s Wonderland entertainment center. Clean the place up by morning and he’ll have paid off his debt. But there’s a catch. Those devilish dolls are out to get him. When one of them says, “I’m going to feast on your face!” all hell breaks loose, pitting the man, fueled by energy drinks, against a small army of demonic killing machines. Meanwhile, a troupe of local teenagers dares approach in hopes of destroying the structure with fire and, because it’s the right thing to do, helping the man escape while they’re at it.

The film strives to blend curious charm with its brutal beat-em-up scenes, yielding a film that’s more tongue-in-cheek silly than gut-punch grim. Nic Cage’s nameless and silent character is not defined by his machismo boldness and willingness to lay waste to Willy’s minions – something nobody before him has been able to do – but rather by his clockwork energy drink consumption. He literally stops to chug a can and play some pinball every time his watch beeps, at one point even handing off combat duty to someone else in order to satisfy his cravings. Why? Who knows. It’s part of the movie’s off-kilter charm that sees Cage’s character more concerned with cleaning the joint rather than taking out the trash, so to speak. It’s almost as if the killer creatures are simply obstacles interfering with the job of spraying down and scrubbing up the surfaces. That’s his job. That’s what he needs to do to get his car back, so anything else – outside of his drink and break time – is just an obstacle to getting back behind the wheel.

In a way that makes the fight scenes more interesting. The battles are not really personal. There’s almost no emotion involved. Cage’s character goes through the motions with a meticulousness befitting someone of a single minded obsession – in this case his car – not someone fighting for his life. The movie opens with a glimpse at several other people who have been coerced into serving as living sacrifices. They’re weary, their brows are tense, the fear palpable on their faces. Not so with this guy. Even as he’s splattered by the animatronics’ blood, or even human blood, at times, there’s an unshakable mission to clean and by golly he’s going to clean. Just not when his watch tells him it's time for a break.

The movie is lean and well structured. It’s stylish without obsessing over its style, complimenting the movie rather than overwhelming the screen with its peculiarities and particulars. Gore is plentiful even if there’s a feel that it’s not quite so realistically pronounced as it might have been. The production nails the atmosphere, building a perfect blend of cheerful and creepy, warm and welcoming and cold and hellish. Support performances are nowhere near so rich as Cage’s silent work but the animatronic dolls find more personality than any of the humans, and there’s almost a want to root for them rather than to see the movie follow rote scripting in the midst of its superficial inventiveness.

Willy's Wonderland Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Willy's Wonderland arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p transfer that is imperfect but seemingly reflective of the movie's deliberate technical infrastructure. Colors have been desaturated, removing intense boldness and vitality to create something of a bleak, washed out appearance. Blacks are raised, colors are muted, and the spectrum has been depressed for effect. Still, spots of more intense light are revealed particularly on illuminated pinball machines and other forms of entertainment throughout the Wonderland, particularly seen in close-up when Cage's character is cleaning various surfaces. Details are decently sharp. Cage's beard, for instance, or the wear on the animatronic creatures offer lively depth and detail in most every shot. Clarity is steady if not underwhelming by the movie's design. There is some macroblocking in some extreme lower light scenes (look at the 56:01 mark for an example) but the picture isn't otherwise overtly troubled by other source or encode issues. This is not a traditional "good looking" movie but it's stable within its realm and confident in outputting that appearance.

Willy's Wonderland Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is decent enough in the aggregate. The opening scene is somewhat tepid and timid for music, offering good engagement along the front, through the back, and with a fair low-end support but it's not so aggressive and dominant as to explode from speakers. That's essentially the whole story here. The sound design's inherent limitations are in evidence. Never does the track just jump. It's a bit flat, expressive and engaging all around but not so forceful as one would expect for a film of this sort, with all of the various ambient effects around the title location or in the grisly action that takes place therein. The track is workmanlike but lacking the fine point detail and the higher end expression. Dialogue is clear and center focused. It's good enough for a lower budget genre flick, but don't expect the next great Horror soundtrack symphony.

Willy's Wonderland Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Willy's Wonderland contains several featurettes, galleries, and a trailer. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Inside the Fun: Making of Willy's Wonderland (1080p, 7:39): Exploring the multiple genres "from the ridiculous to the sublime" as Nicolas Cage says. The piece explores the characters, plot details, performances, building the animatronic characters, crafting fight scenes, Kevin Lewis' direction, and more.
• Set tour with Christian Del Grosso (1080p, 2:17): The character who plays "Aaron" quickly tours several key set pieces.
• Colorful Darkness and The Demon-Atrons: The Production Design of Willy's Wonderland (1080p, 1:44): Quickly looking at some of the plot basics. This piece repeats some of the content from previous extras.
• Fresh Meat (The Cast) (1080p, 1:12): A blink-and-miss-it look at some of the human characters not played by Nicolas Cage.
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 1:51).
• Teaser Character Artwork Gallery (1080p): Creepy poster promos featuring the animatronic killers. Images must be advanced manually. There is no accompanying music.
• Character Posters Graphics Gallery (1080p): Kid-friendly character renders as seen within Willy's Wonderland. Images must be advanced manually. There is no accompanying music.
• Production Design Gallery (1080p): Concept artwork, floorplans, and the like. Images must be advanced manually. There is no accompanying music.

Willy's Wonderland Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Willy's Wonderland's tongue-in-cheek Horror yields a comically grisly film about man versus the Chuck-E-Cheese band. It's as silly as it sounds yet the film hits the pitch-perfect tone, finding a balance to the violence and the laughs alike in what is one of the more novel and over the top films of the year. Screen Media's Blu-ray delivers solid enough video and audio. A handful of extras are included. Recommended.