Willy's Wonderland -
Life is like a Nicolas Cage performance as much as it's like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get. You probably didn't expect him to be an energy drink addict, a pinball wizard, a gearhead and nonverbal when you chose to watch this, did you? Whether you did or not, Cage is just who he needs to be in this silly and bloody curiosity. Does his choice to make the janitor never speak lead to awkward moments, even for him? Sure, but since our
Five Nights at Freddy's adjacent/knockoffs/what have you denizens' home is in the title and not his, it makes sense in its own way. While none of the villains are exactly original creations, they are distinctive, have unique abilities, and most importantly, each one made me laugh. In other words, if I had to boil this movie down to four words, it would be
Demons meets
Mortal Kombat. The claustrophobia in the former is a reason why it's a favorite and it's a main draw here as well. It's also nice to see Beth Grant, who plays a not so honest police officer, especially since she's at her funniest. Emoi's driving soundtrack is also killer and helps to keep things moving at just the right pace.
Even though our hero does not say anything, I don't think it's wrong to complain about this movie not having much quotable dialogue. Only Beth Grant's cop is allowed a few zingers. It would have been a lot cooler if the writer granted the janitor's teenage allies some memorable lines as well, not to mention more personality. Despite these drawbacks, the movie practically reeks of Halloween - well, that and rotting pizza - and it's an ideal choice to kick off a horror marathon or movie portion of a Halloween party. If that's all you are looking for, it will check your boxes, but don't expect it to do more than that.