Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

What a weird film. Really more disgusting then scary. Case in point: a deep fried rat in a bucket of fried chicken!, a poodle put in a microwave by a demented old senile lady to "dry" him off! A poor old man scared to death in a amusement ride! Wow, so scary...NOT! Sean Astin with his brother and cousin take turns telling so-called scary stories, but they are anything but. The two main stories include a variety of stars.Dana Ashbrook was wasted in his brief cameo a customer wanting a bucket of chicken. 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. of note: one of the bullies that tormented Ian, was none other than Jeremy Miller, 'Ben Seaver' of "Growing Pains" fame. James Karen had a nice part as the mysterious janitor with a very deadly secret. Clu Gulager was completely wasted as the principal of the school. 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. His parents were good also especially Mike Pniewski as his mean and tough dad. A interesting pair of cameos were done by none other than Kirk Cameron and Tracey Gold, also of "Growing Pains" fame, in a nightmare scene that Michael has in which he is watching Kirk and Tracey on TV in their "Growing Pain" roles of 'Mike and Carol Seaver'! 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. Could have been way better but it was low-budget at it's best. Still, if you can "stomach" it, (there's even a very disgusting and disturbing scene where a asthma inhaler is full of worms! YUCK!) I recommend you at least watch it once. It's that weird and disturbing.

~Spoiler~ The Willies is a film that I would have had a greater appreciation for if I discovered it when I was 10. It's just too silly, only a kid could enjoy it. 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. The first actual story is the best one, by leaps and bounds. It's titled Bad Apples and concerns a janitor that goes from school to school devouring bullies. The second story, Flyboy, goes on forever! This one involves a kid that has a truly creepy obsession with flies. It could have been easily skimmed down and we could have had a real anthology here instead of just the two stories. An interesting bit of trivia about The Willies is all of the Return of the Living Dead alumni. It features Dana Ashbrook who starred in RotLD 2, Clu Gulager puts in a cameo, James Karen stars as the janitor, and Brian "Scuz" Peck wrote and directed the film. Also, keep an eye out for all of the Growing Pains kids.

OK, it starts out with short stories, gory, yes. Gross, yes. Any good? Watch. Next we get to the main stories. The first one, scary, original, and funny. It's about a janitor who is really a monster and eats bad kids. The second story, long, stupid, wrong, sick, and boring. It's about Gordy Blecher who is in love with dead fly's. Good for the most part, and it is watchable, intil the end. *** out of ***** Good

Grim instead of amusing, mean-spirited instead of playful, boring instead of interesting. It won't give you "the willies", but it just may gross you out or send you to sleep. And it will certainly make you wonder: "what were they thinking?" (*1/2)