The Willies
Tags: violence, horror

Plot synopsis:
=== Prologue ("Camping Out") ===
Two brothers, Kyle and Josh, and their cousin, Michael (Sean Astin), gather around a campfire and decide to tell scary stories to one another, each one of which they claim to be absolutely true (in the style of urban legends). In the first ten minutes of the film (even before the opening credits), they tell a series of brief stories:
"Tennessee Frickasee" - A woman at a fast food restaurant finds a rat in her fried chicken.
"Haunted Estate" - An old man (Bill Erwin) dies of a heart attack after experiencing the terrors of an amusement park's horror ride.
"Poodle Souffle" - An old woman puts her toy poodle in the microwave to dry off (with predictable results).
At this point, Michael says he knows a story they haven't heard of yet (Kyle asks if it's about when his friends "found the pirate ship in that old cave," a reference to Astin's earlier film The Goonies), and promises that this story will give them the willies.
=== "Bad Apples" ===
A young boy named Danny struggles at his school with bullies and an overbearing, impatient teacher (Kathleen Freeman). The only one who shows him any sympathy is the school custodian, Mr. Jenkins (James Karen). While on duty, Mr. Jenkins disappears in the bathroom, and Danny enters later to find Mr. Jenkins' body with a detached head, and a humanoid monster lurking in the stall. Danny tells his teacher, who goes into the bathroom to investigate, only to be killed by the monster. Danny lures the bullies into the bathroom, and they too are killed. It is soon revealed that Mr. Jenkins was the monster all the time, with his body being a disguise.
Mr. Jenkins moves to another school, where it is revealed that he is still targeting bullies.
=== Interlude ===
Michael explain that his father, the brothers' Uncle Henry, knew Mr. Jenkins personally, hence the accuracy of the story. Kyle and Josh say they have an even stranger story to tell.
=== "Flyboy" ===
Gordy Belcher (Michael Bower) is a reclusive, mischievous kid who often plays pranks on others, and who is overly obsessed with flies (even pinning them into positions inside a model church). He becomes fascinated with a secret manure created by Farmer Spivey, which causes crops to grow in increased sizes. He often steals the manure from the old man, much to Spivey's chagrin.
After being kicked out of the school after tricking a girl into eating flies, Gordy stops by Spivey's farm, where the old man offers him a special manure with new ingredients, as a way to "call a truce." Gordy goes home to find his mother has thrown away all his flies, save for three he kept in a hiding spot. He places them in the jar of manure which causes the flies to grow to an immense size overnight. They attack Gordy when he wakes up, and the boy's parents find him with blood stumps where his arms and legs had been. Gordy awakes the next day with prosthetic replacements.
=== Epilogue ===
The brothers explain that Gordy is now made fun of by the kids he used to pick on. Michael is incredulous, to which the brothers contend that Michael's story was far less believable. At that point, Uncle Henry arrives, and the brothers ask him to prove the story about Mr. Jenkins. Uncle Henry (also played by James Karen) then rips off his face, revealing the humanoid monster from "Bad Apples".

Review: Starring Sean (Lord Of The Rings, Goonies) Astin this anthology is a curious creature as it only has two stories plus the wrap around.Rather light hearted and more in the vein of Goosebumps this is suitable for more or less all ages.The first story is about a monster residing the toilets of a school and the other regarding a weird kid whose hobby is pulling wings off flies and making them into characters in his dioramas.Though looking very dated and with some appalling sfx the movie certainly has its charm but definitely shouldn't be confused with a horror.Watchable though predictable stuff, the second story is at least rather disturbing.The Good: Clu Galager Sean Astin Second story gets under your skin The Bad: Looks rather tacky Should have been at least three stories Things I Learnt From This Movie: A 3rd mini story in the opening of the film was removed due to being considered distasteful which involved a poodle and a microwave.
this movie is basically about two brothers and their cousin who decide to scare each other by telling each other spooky urban legends while camping out.i guess you could compare it the TV shows Goosebumps or Are You Afraid of the Dark,although it's not as good as either of those two.anyway,what follows are two separate tales.the first one is pretty good.it's sort of a black comedy.it is quite amusing,and compelling.plus,it is well written.the second of the tales is not so good.much of the odd behaviour and events are given no reason or explanation.also this tale is boring and feels way too long.the ending makes no sense and doesn't tie into the rest of the story.long story short,the first tale is good-second one-not so much.for me,this movie is a 5/10.
Sean Astin and two other boys are camping out and tell each other a bunch of nasty stories.
The movie itself first portrays a school where the janitor (James Karen) turns out to be a hideous monster...fortunately, not totally malevolent.
The next half portrays a boy who gets a little too obsessed with bugs.Yes, it's probably one of the sillier movies out there.
It is about these 2 brothers camping out with their cousin played by Sean Astin, they decide to tell scary stories, the first one is about this woman the goes into a chicken restaurant and orders a bucket of chicken and when she takes her first bite she notices that it doesn't taste like chicken she looks and its a big rat that she took a bite out of.
This is a fairly good film.I believe it should be rated R for certain reasons.There are disturbing scenes like when the woman eats a dead rat,or a puppy's guts splatter.There are a few very short stories that don't even bother introducing the characters.Then we get to the main stories.The first is about when a janitor turns out to be a monster that kills bad people.This story was rather good,although not an oscar winner by a long shot.The second is just plain disturbing.It's about a kid who's obsesed with dead flys,and it gets more disturbing,you'll have to see to find out,and the ending for the whole movie is twisted..
This is a PG-13 movie made with a cast of mostly kids, written with humorous and yucky stories that appeal the most to kids (or, like "Tennessee Frickasee", are often TOLD by kids), and is ultimately a hearty attempt at a horror movie for kids.
The stories would only scare a four-year-old (who, depending on the case of who the kid is, may not even be scared of them).
I did like it enough to consider it a fair horror-comedy/anthology, but I only wished I would've gotten to see it back in elementary school when I thought "Ghoulies 2" was the greatest movie ever made, because that's when I would have liked it the best..
it is not a long drawn out plot that you can get bored with in 10 minutes.....the plot is this: 3 young kids telling ghost stories in a tent trying to scare each other.
I definitely could.The "bookend" storyline, with the three kids in the tent, was a big yawn-fest though (with the notable exception of the excellent Goonies reference.) I *do* recommend this film, though mostly for the Tale of Gordy Belcher..
I think the film would have worked better with 3 big stories instead of 2.
Sean Astin gathers his brother and cousin to spend the night in his tent with his uncle (James Karen) watching the kids.
Fun little flick, is fairly tame (it does contain one scene of brief graphic violence) and makes a good pick for kids (10 or older) who are fans of scary story books like "Southern Fried Rat".
I rather liked the ghost stories the kids told, Like the school janitor who turns out to be a monster and kills kids who pick other children.
Like a poodle blowing up in a microwave, a carnival ride giving a man a heart-attack, and a lady ordering a bucket of fried chicken and biting into a dead puppy.
( now that is disgusting, and outright twisted )But another highlight for me were the appearances of James Karen ( the janitor/monster ) Sean Astin ( camp out teen ) Jeremy Miller( Growing Pains...
( He played Scuz in " The Return of the Living Dead " ) All in all " The Willies " is pretty good movie.
I noticed some popular people in it too, like Sean Astin from "Rudy." It's got all you want from a b-horror movie, including the bad dialogue ("The Monster killed Mr. Jenkins, it PULLED off his head!"), bad acting, mess-ups (including a long appearance in one shot with the boom mike and a disappearing and re-appearing goo in another scene), and plenty of cheesy effects.
The film is about a group of kids, camping out and telling scary stories around the fire.
The second feature is about this ass-hat of a kid named Gordy Belcher, that is obsessed with flies.
A really weird early 90's kids horror movie..
One of my earliest horror related memories is of reading a comic (I'm guessing it was a reprint of old EC tales) in which a kid who enjoyed pulling the wings off flies ended up having both of his arms torn off (I recall that he may have even been given giant fly wings as replacements, although I may have made that bit up over the years).
This story seems to be the inspiration for the second of the two main tales in kiddie-centric horror anthology The Willies, whilst the first, about a boy who discovers a monster in the school bathroom, appears to have borrowed heavily from an early Stephen King short story called 'Here There Be Tygers'.
Even the short stories in the pre-credits sequence are based on familiar urban legends—meaning that the film doesn't rate very well for originality.
Writer director Brian Peck also loses points for the poor structuring of his film, with the second story in particular long outstaying its welcome.As highly derivative and poorly paced as the film may be, however, The Willies is still just about worthwhile thanks to its tongue-in-cheek approach (loved the Goonies in-joke), nicely developed characters (the solid cast includes future hobbit Sean Astin, and James Karen and Clu Gulager from Return of the Living Dead), some hokey creature effects, and above all, a genuine sense of fun.
Plus, it's hard for me to hate too much on a film that, despite being aimed predominantly at a younger audience, actually proves rather disturbing at times: fly-boy Gordy (Michael Bower) surveying his macabre dioramas featuring dead flies is nice and twisted (the Church even has a dead fly attached to a crucifix!) and his fate is as gruesome as it should be (which reminds me...
like, the acting is definitely on par for what a kid-tailored movie would look like, but there are so many weird little faux pas that make me also think it's just a movie that's so bad it'd good.
There are a lot of things you see that may be interesting as a thought, but when executed in filming are not so great (like that weird plastic spider hanging down in the fly kid's basement while he is working...
Anthology movies need more than two stories..
This movie starts out with kids telling each other urban legends such as the poodle in the microwave and getting something extra at a chicken place.
Then it gets worse as the next story about this kid obsessed with dead flies is on and it goes on and on and on.
The film begins with three boys in a tent trying to gross each out by telling urban legends, you know stories about a woman microwaving her dog and a woman eating a rat at a fried chicken restaurant.
The story is about a weirdo who has a fetish for collecting flies and the other story is about a kid who discovers a creep in his High School bathroom.Not really going into a lot about the stories cause you needs to watch.
The film has it's moments of pure grossness and is filled with cameos by Clu Gulager and James Karen both from Return of the Living Dead (the film is directed by a star of that film as well), it also has a wink to The Goonies (in which Sean Astin stars).
The next mistake is with the movie starting off with three very short stories which are urban legends that EVERYONE has heard of before - no surprises.
As it has been noted by other user comments, the story of the bullied boy and the monster in the bathroom was obviously inspired by the Stephen King short story, "Here There Be Tygers".
There is a monster that doesn't look bad for a movie that had a very low budget, but that's just a few seconds of entertainment.
The second story, about a boy obsessed with flies, goes on forever.
Aside from the creature effects, the only thing entertaining about "The Willies" is one in-joke that references the movie THE GOONIES, which Sean Astin also appeared in..
I greatly enjoy this horror movie with its gross jokes and cinematic recreations of Kentucky Fried Rat and "the poodle in the microwave" urban legends.
The first story is about a monster in the boys bathroom at school.
Geez, I hope kids didn't get the idea to start sticking their dogs in microwaves after watching this movie.
It's a pretty lame waste of time while you're waiting around for the writers to finally get to the point.And as it is introduced, these stories are guaranteed to give you "The Willies." Though in reality, unless you scare very easily (including the P-13 audience that this movie caters to), then you're probably not going to get anything more than a pain in the brain.
This movie is a real turkey, even if Sean Astin or Jeremy Miller are in it (notice how they conveniently reference to Growing Pains in the 'fly' story), and possibly not good enough to be the best worst movie.
The first part of the movie sets up our wraparound story concerning Sean Astin and his cousins telling spooky stories in a tent.
My favorite line is spoken here towards Astin's character: "Wait...this isn't that dumb story about the time you and your friends found that pirate ship in an old cave?" You gotta love Goonies references.
Sean Astin with his brother and cousin take turns telling so-called scary stories, but they are anything but.
Bill Erwin, Kimmy Robertson and Doug Benson are also totally wasted in a brief mini-story about a old man scared to death in a poor man's Haunted Mansion amusement ride.In story one, Kathleen Freeman did real good as a mean teacher, Ian Fried also did okay as a little boy being bullied and crying monster and no one believes him.
I was really disappointed with that because when I saw his name and James Karen in the credits, I was expecting the funny chemistry they both had in the cult "Return of the Living Dead" film where they both had great parts.
Here, even though they both were in Story One, did not have any scenes together.In Story Two, Michael Bower was cast very well as the strange and weird over-weight boy no one likes.
Story Two was a very weird and disturbing sequence that seem to go on for too long and with a very predictable (and unsatisfying) ending.All in all a very disturbing and weird little film.
Three boys relate scary stories in a tent on a dark night.
Writer/director Brian Peck not only maintains a snappy pace and a surprisingly mean-spirited tone throughout, but also astutely nails a distinctly male adolescent obsession on all things gross, vile, and disgusting, with the popular urban legends concerning a dead rat found in a bucket of fried chicken and a poodle exploding in a microwave rating as sidesplitting sick hoots.
For me it really blurred the line between what constitutes kid friendly and child nightmare inducing, like you had the blood and gore, not much at all but it was definitely there, you had the nauseating scene of the old lady taking a big 'ol juicy bite out of the fried rat, it had one use of the word s**t!
I'm not gonna pretend it wasn't, the acting was mostly terrible, especially from the kids in the wraparound campfire scenes(Sean Astin not included), and in the story of the kindly janitor who was really a monster in disguise who had an appetite for school bullies!
I loved that, bullies and mean teachers simply being devoured, you'd never get that in a movie like this these days, it's not P.C. enough!
Like when the kid goes to the school bathroom and the spindly fanged beast crawls out of the toilet, I sure wasn't expecting something so spooky and threatening to appear!
And the movie's ending was quite mean-spirited also, those boys asked to know the truth and they certainly got it!
I'm not saying this was a brilliant film or anything, it could've benefited from a third story although I reckon the vignettes could serve as that, but it was overall a fun scary time, its overtly dark elements make it notable amongst most other child horror movies that I've seen.
As a result, the viewer has fun with it.B-movie or not, this is the second best horror-comedy I've ever seen, between Ghostbusters and Blithe Spirit (1945).It feels like the entire Growing Pains cast and crew were bored one weekend and decided to make a movie.
If you liked the Growing Pains Halloween episodes, you will enjoy this.Jeremy Miller is the reason I wanted to see this movie.
you know what's coming, but you'll still like it.Kids are sitting in a tent telling stories.
Sean Astin and Josh Miller (looks like he might be Jeremy Miller's little brother) are mostly credible, though it looks like they could have used a few more takes.The better stories are the shorter ones.
I should have turned it off after the dog in the microwave, but since I like to torture myself I continued watching it.The worst part is probably the second story, about the creepy kid who pulls wings off of flies.
And this movie is made in 1990, you would think they could fake a scene like that.The Willies feels like it's made by a sadistic nine-year old.
The Willies starts late one night as brother's Josh (Joshua Miller) & Kyle (Jason Horst) are camping outside with their cousin Michael (Sean Astin), they decide to pass the time by telling scary stories...First up is Michael with a story entitled 'Bad Apples' in which a young boy named Danny Hollister (Ian Fried) is bullied at school, however the sinister new janitor Mr. Jenkins (James Karen) decides to help him out...Next up is Kyle as he tells a strange story called 'Flyboy' in which an overweight bully with a worrying fascination with dead flies gets what he deserves in a horrible twisted way...Written & directed by Brian Peck The Willies didn't do much for me & I doubt it'll do much for you either.
The script is strange as far as episodic anthologies go, instead of the usual three or four stories it only has two main tales & a few bizarre 'urban myth' type mini scenes at the start, these consist of the person who orders food from a fast food restaurant only to find a dead rat in her chicken, a man who dies of a heart attack on a ride & someone who tries to dry her poodle off in the microwave only for it to explode.
I have no idea what the purpose of these scenes are but they add nothing to the film, as for the two main stories they are both weak.
For a start they are too long which is a huge mistake in these types of films, usually the stories in anthologies are short, sharp & quick with a nice twist at the end usually involving people getting what they deserved.
The first story is the better to watch as a whole but it has no twist ending as far as I could see while the second one has a nice 'just deserts' ending but the build up to it is weak & drawn out for no good reason.
I really like horror anthology films so The Willies comes as a disappointment, frankly it lets the genre down.Director Peck was obviously working on a low budget & as a whole The Willies is pretty tough to sit through, there's plenty of continuity errors & it's poorly made.
The acting is poor, no ones going to win any awards thats for sure.The Willies is a poor film, it's not scary, it's not fun, it's not entertaining & it only features two overlong stories.