Macabre…ish Horror Review: The Willies

The Willies, 1990/ 1 hr 31 min

Two brothers, Josh (Joshua John Miller) and Kyle (Jason Horst) with their cousin, Michael (Sean Astin) go camping and share urban legends.

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Tennessee Fricassee where a woman finds a deep fried rat in her bucket of chicken. Haunted Estate about an elderly man dying at an amusement park. And Poodle Souffle, about a woman drying her poodle off with a microwave.

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Afterward, Michael promises to tell them a story that they’ve never heard before and will give them the willies. Kyle asks if it’s about him and his friends finding a pirate ship stuck in a cave 😏.

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Bad Apple is a supposed true story, told to him by his Uncle Henry, about a bullied boy, Danny (Ina Fried) with an overbearing teacher, Ms. Titmarch (Kathleen Freeman) he sees a monster in the bathroom and he believes it’s killed the beloved custodian, Mr. Jenkins (James Karen). And and lures his bullies in after seeing what happens to Ms. Titmarch, after she goes in to investigate.

Flyboy is story about a reclusive prankster named Gordy Belcher (Michael Bower) who is obsessed with flies. So much so that his pranks with flies, get him thrown out of school. And in a weird feud with a local farmer, Mr. Spivey (Ralph Drischell) over manure. And his obsession ends with him missing limbs. Now he’s the kid that gets made fun of.

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The brothers don’t believe the Michael’s story and thinks theirs is better and more believable, that is, until they meet Uncle Henry.

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This is very reminiscent of Creepshow and Monsters and other anthologies of the era but geared toward kids. The physical effects are hilarious! It also did not age very well, it’s not pc at all. There some violence, some blood and graphic moments. Some of the acting is bad and very of the time. And it was good to see some iconic actors again, including Dana Ashbrook, Clu Gulager! This is nostalgic and fun!