HorrorMovieProjectNET First off this movie would never have the ability to qualify for a PG-13 rating now-a-days. It is frightening. It's like a Nickelodeon horror movie. It has some really adult size horror, but can't shake that safe feeling that children's programming provides. This is an Anthology horror film that features a couple of different tales. These are always fun as they tend to provide some much needed variety. The film is about a group of kids, camping out and telling scary stories around the fire. They make reference to The Goonies and apparently Sean Astin is playing the same character that he was in that movie. Or at least that is what the rumor mill was saying. The kid's give us a lot of quick, short stories to kick it off. Surprisingly this is all part of a cold open that seems to take forever. They finally delve into some really bizarre tales. The first is about a scrawny, kid that has a problem with getting bullied at school. He discovers some strange, gargoyle-like monster hiding in the Boys Room. He also discovers that this monster has ripped the head off of his favorite janitor. He tries to find help, but one by one the Monster kills every intruder. It's actually kind of neat. The second feature is about this ass-hat of a kid named Gordy Belcher, that is obsessed with flies. Especially if they are dead flies. He puts the flies in a tiny diorama that he has in his basement. The flies are all set-up in these everyday life poses. It's kind of lame. He pisses everyone in town off with his ghoulish behavior, and kicks up a rivalry with a mad scientist of sortsThis movie isn't hurting for star power. Sean Austin, Jeremy Miller, James Karen, Kathleen Freeman, Michael Bower, Bill Erwin, Dana Ashbrook, Kirk Cameron, and even Doug Benson have a part in it. The writing and acting are all television quality but that doesn't take away from anything. The weirdest thing is the cold open. It's strange. And the individual scenes seem to go on for way too long and the plot just gets muddy.The nostalgic factor really played a part with me here. I think I may have seen this when I was a child. It seems so familiar. I didn't expect much and I felt okay with what I had gotten. Others seem to really hate this movie, but I don't understand the hate. It's not the best so don't go into this expecting anything. Just watch it for what it is. A really weird early 90's kids horror movie.

Lee Eisenberg "The Willies" is sort of an "Urban Legend" for kids trying to gross each other out. Sean Astin and two other boys are camping out and tell each other a bunch of nasty stories. This was actually the first time that I'd ever heard of the woman microwaving her dog; I was surprised when I later learned that it's a fairly common urban legend. 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. But it knows that it is just that, so there's no problem. Sean Astin shows the same flair that he'd shown in "The Goonies" and would later show in the "Lord of the Rings" movies. Worth seeing.PS: In case you don't recognize James Karen, he most recently starred in "The Pursuit of Happiness". He also starred in "All the President's Men", "Poltergeist" and "Return of the Living Dead" 1 and 2.

Pepper Anne The Willies is the poor man's Creepshow. Three kids sitting around the midnight campfire need to entertain themselves. Before the opening credits even roll (I mean, when the title does finally appear on screen), we get about ten minutes of "what's grosser than gross" stories and bad jokes. A lady microwaving her dog, an old man scared to death by the walking dead at a cheap recreation of Disney's Haunted Mansion, and a fat fast foodie woman who bites into a latex rat. Big deal. 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. Although, the first one will probably entertain the kiddies enough if you've ever had a bully or a teacher that didn't like you. That's the foundation for the first story, a janitor who turns into a big ugly monster. And when this dorky little kid (and believe me, this kid is king nerd), can't convince anyone that he saw a monster in the bathroom, people go investigating it for themselves. And the consequences aren't pretty. Well, at least not unless you're like the dorky little kid and enjoy seeing your tormentors get eaten by the beast. Fine.But the second story was just too weird to enjoy. "Donkeylips" from Salute Your Shorts fame (Michael Bower) plays an obnoxious super-weird kid who goes poking around some senile man's yard. The guy has a genetically engineered fertilizer that is guaranteed to improve the growth of anything you use it for. Bower plays a creepy bug obsessed kid with a penchant for making friends with flies, which he has created a super race of thanks to the fertilizer that he kept them in. To top off a weird story is a stupid ending. I'm not even sure kids could enjoy that one, except to see giant human-sized flies running about. 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. If it's PG-13 horror you're looking for, I'd recommend passing it up. If these are the stories you enjoy, get a good fright (and a good laugh) with Stephen King's Creepshow series.

brandonsites1981 Sean Astin gathers his brother and cousin to spend the night in his tent with his uncle (James Karen) watching the kids. With nothing better to do, they tell each other scary stories. The first one involving a monster and the second one involving bugs. 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". The effects are awful, as is the score and acting, but it just adds to the fun!Rated PG-13; One Scene of Graphic Violence.