Review: Welcome to Willets

(imdb.com)

Despite multiple classics and a few big-budget sci-fi adventures, good alien movies are hard to come by. Over the years, the subgenre has taken a quieter route in the industry, with few, notable exceptions. Dark Skies - one of the more recent attempts wasn't overly terrifying and while plenty of interstellar films continue to get released, we've yet to see a permeating rebirth of families getting the heebie-jeebies at the hands of grey figures from the sky. So, for fans anxiously waiting for impact, Welcome to Willets should give a little peace.

Starring Chris Zylka (The Leftovers) as the film's lead, Jeremiah, and Anastasia Baranova (Z Nation) as townie Courtney, Welcome to Willets finds a group of friends fighting for their lives against aliens deep in the woods. The local pot farmer and Courtney's uncle who encounters the group and is worried about the aliens played by Bill Sage (We Are What We Are) and his significant other is played by Sabina Gadecki (Entourage). Jeremiah's group of friends is comprised of a cast of young stars, including Garrett Clayton (King Cobra), Thomas Dekker (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Keelin Woodell (The Bye Bye Man), Rory Culkin (Scream 4) and Harrueche Tran (3-Headed Shark Attack).

The youthful star power of these budding actors definitely works in favor of this movie. Each brings a certain determination surely brought on by each of their past experiences in horror films. In fact, Welcome to Willet is uplifted past other, weaker parts through this group of stars. Shakier plot points and some truly cheesy practical effects take away from the movie's quality and typically higher standard seen from IFC Midnight films. The dialogue could be improved and by the film's end some of the story feels muddled.

Welcome to Willets features a certain retro atmosphere. Like a throwback to the teen horror films of yore, this film is unabashedly simplistic and comedic. It's not a terrifying exercise of horror but it is an easily entertaining one. It's not nearly as polished as say, The Cabin in the Woods, but it is certainly an upbeat romp that's fun enough to sit through.

Overall, Welcome to Willits isn't some insane alien film. It's not Close Encounters or even The Fourth Kind, but in an age where the only existing options are crazed action/sci-fi films and an occasional offbeat alien film, it'll have to do. Welcome to Willets makes the most of its young stars and even it's more weathered veterans, and it’s got plenty to at least get viewers through the night. 5 out 10.