Why So Blu?

Willy’s Wonderland (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

A quiet drifter (Nicolas Cage) finds himself stranded in a remote town when his car breaks down. Taking on a janitorial job at the now-condemned Willy’s Wonderland seems like an easy way to earn some cash … but the mundane task suddenly becomes an all-out fight for survival when he must do battle with wave after wave of demonic, murderous animatronics. Willy’s Wonderland is now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray! 

Film

Willy’s Wonderland is the new horror-comedy starring Nicolas Cage. I should preface the review by saying that this is a completely silent performance by Nicolas Cage. Outside of a few grunts here and there, no words were uttered by his character.

Cage plays a drifter whose car has broken down in the outskirts of town. He’s broke and needs it fixed, so he gets a janitorial job at Willy’s Wonderland. Think of Willy’s Wonderland as a Chuck E. Cheese but with creepier looking animatronic characters. It is also the second film out there featuring twisted animatronic creations. The first film being Five Nights at Freddy’s, which I have not seen.

Young people up to no good are introduced in Willy’s Wonderland who want to burn the building down due to the town rumblings of it being cursed. This is foiled since the animatronic characters are indeed alive and they want blood. This variable affects our “drifter” character and now he has to come to the aid of these careless young people.

Willy’s Wonderland is a fun little film. I have no interest in the other similarly plotted film, but this one having Cage in the lead in a non-speaking role is not only funny but pretty badass. It’s an ultra-violent film, as well. It’s a cool little time-waster of a film and should satisfy fans of practical special effects.

 

Video

NOTE: Stills are provided for promotional use only and are not from the 4K or HD Blu-rays

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 2160p

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Dolby Vision: Yes

HDR: HDR10

Layers: BD-66 / BD-50

Clarity/Detail: Willy’s Wonderland on 4K disc looks as clear and sharp as it possibly can. I didn’t detect any instances of added DNR or artificial sharpening. The image does have a bit of softness but those instances take place during the lens flare infused scenes, which are sporadic.

Depth: The exteriors tend to do the best on this 4K disc. During the beginning of the film as Cage drives through the countryside, just before he has his first encounter with a human, the scenery looks amazing. Once production narrows down to taking place indoors at Willy’s Wonderland, the picture looks less epic. It’s nothing catastrophic, it’s that the exteriors/outdoor scenes just look better than interiors.

Black Levels: Black levels are fine. I did not notice any crush, bright shadows, or grayish tones.

Color Reproduction: The vibrant color palette shines on this disc but does come down a notch during scenes that have lens flares added on. Those stupid lens flares add a bit of banding and slight pixelation. Again, outside/exteriors, the colors look amazing there.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are nice and natural looking. No one looked pasty or discolored.

Noise/Artifacts: I did not notice any anomalies while watching the 4K disc.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English DTS-Master Audio 5.1, English Stereo DTS-Master Audio 2.0

Subtitles: English SDH

Dynamics: Willy’s Wonderland comes equipped with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 & DTS-Master Audio 2.0. I watched the film in its full 5.1 presentation. From opening scene of Nicolas Cage driving down the road in his muscle car to the excellent synth-soundtrack by Émoi – the soundtrack on this 4K UHD Blu-ray really gives the old home theater a hearty work out.

Height: N/A

Low-Frequency Extension: The film, not including the specific jingles from Willy’s Wonderland, boasts an awesome synth-score and the bass response from my two subwoofers was freakin’ awesome! It was nice and full, with no reverberation or rattle. I was bumpin’ along with it.

Surround Sound Presentation: The rear surround channels are aggressive and really bring out the creepy crawly atmosphere of the film. You have stuff walking around back there that really enhances the overall experience.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue from all of the secondary character was clear, clean, and crisp. Cage’s grunts also came through with flying colors.

 

Extras

There are several featurettes included on the Blu-ray but only add up to slightly over 10-minutes in length combined. That’s not good.

• Inside Fun Featurette
• Set Tour with Actor Christian Del Grosso
• Fresh Meat Featurette
• Coloful Darkness and the Demon-Atrons Featurette
• Trailer
• Image Galleries

Summary 

Willy’s Wonderland is a fun little film. The 4K UHD Blu-ray has above average video and audio but lacks in-depth special features, which is a bummer. Fans of the genre and format will enjoy it.

 

 

Willy’s Wonderland is available on 4K UHD Blu-ray!

ORDER NOW!

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