FrightFest 2020: LITTLE WILLY Review – This Short Will Make You Question Your Sanity
David Gelmini
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Starring Andrew Bowser, Zach Galligan, Adrienne Barbeau
Directed by Andrew Bowser
One of the most memorable shorts to have played at this year’s FrightFest was Little Willy, which can now be viewed publicly on YouTube.
Writer and director Andrew Bowser plays Adam Castle, a washed-up former child actor who now makes a living from attending horror conventions. He brings along the actual doll of Little Willy, the killer toy from the Child’s Play-esque movie of the same name he starred in as a kid, and when pressed by fans, he always recites his famous line, ‘It wasn’t me, it was Little Willy. I swear”. Adam clearly does not enjoy appearing at these conventions, but his acting career has hit a roadblock and he needs to make a living somehow.
It probably won’t surprise you too much to learn that the Little Willy doll soon starts talking to Adam. Whether or not this is actually happening or if it’s just in Adam’s head is left open for interpretation at first, although Little Willy soon begins doing much worse things in the real world. The creepy doll even seems to voice Adam’s darkest and innermost desires, with Adam himself struggling to act as the voice of reason instead of giving in to madness.
Adam is clearly having a midlife crisis, but luckily, his fellow actors who he befriended on the convention circuit are there to lend him a helping hand. Zach Galligan from Gremlins and John Carpenter-collaborator Adrienne Barbeau both show up in Little Willy, and it was hilarious to see them effectively serving as Adam’s de facto support network during his time of crisis. Especially since Adam is clearly jealous of them for having more successful acting careers, so he only seems to resent their kindness and compassion.
While it could be interpreted either as a killer doll movie or simply as a story of a man going through a midlife crisis, Little Willy is still a short which is bound to leave viewers questioning their own sanity, and we mean that in the best way possible, although we won’t be keeping any dolls in our homes after watching this.
Summary
With a dedicated lead performance from Andrew Bowser and a truly creepy killer doll, Little Willy is a short film which will certainly make viewers think twice before sleeping with a doll in the room.
