Table of Contents
Welcomes to another daily horror digest! I’ve going to be diving more into the movies I’ve missed so far in 2025 over the next few weeks, and I’m starting today with one of the multiple Steamboat Willie inspired horror movies released this year. Check out my review, and keep reading for some daily trivia including a fun fact about a TV special featuring Elvira that I never knew about.
Movies of the Day: I Heart Willie
Last night I started a tiny amount of catch-up on my new-movie backlog for 2025. I wanted to watch something cheap and hopefully fun, so I went with I Heart Willie which was released this past June. It’s a movie that takes advantage of the public-domain status of Steamboat Willie, so I kept my expectations low. I’ve seen a couple of other Steamboat Willie horror movies; One was awful, and the other was marginally fun in some ways. So, I Heart Willie is the third movie I’ve seen that takes some Willie inspiration, and it is easily my favorite so far.
I Heart Willie was made in Mexico by director Alejandro G. Alegre and writer David Vaughn. The story follows a quartet of people headed to what they believe is a building haunted by the ghost of a mouse-boy named Willie. Daniel, Nico, Nora, and Jess want to create a viral video of their investigation of where Willie’s spirit is thought to reside, and where numerous people have gone missing over the past few decades. The audience knows that Willie is not a ghost. He’s a real person who we see torturing someone at the beginning of the movie. As the group arrives and begins to split up, Willie begins stalking them.
If you read that description and think it sounds like shaky ground to build a movie on, you’re right. The story is the weakest part of I Heart Willie. Certain elements don’t work or just feel random (like Willie’s background). The idea of the friends making a video is clearly just an excuse to get them to the location before being forgotten, because I don’t recall ever seeing them bring out a camera or try to do any investigating. Also, most of the inner-group conflict is just an excuse to separate them for Willie’s stalking. There isn’t even any real use of the Steamboat Willie aspect other than the mask that the killer wears. A lot of the story is very basic and needed a couple more re-writes for it to come together in a sensible way.
However, one character’s story is well done (I won’t mention who to avoid spoilers). That one character has a hidden side to them that is revealed partway through the movie, and that revelation leads to a very interesting final third of the story. That’s all I’ll say about that, but I just wanted to emphasize that the story does get better if you’re watching the movie and feeling unsure about the beginning.
Despite my issues with parts of the story, I Heart Willie excels as a micro-budget movie with slasher tendencies. Willie looks good and gross, and he is an imposing presence on screen. The tropes that the movie falls into (e.g. splitting up for no good reason, not calling the cops or leaving at the first sign of trouble, etc.) are actually fun most of the time. The movie has an old-school, do-it-yourself feel that I love.
There’s also a decent amount of blood, most of which is practical. The budget is clearly small, but the filmmakers did a good job of making it feel like we see more on-screen violence than we actually do. Some is shown, some isn’t. But it all works in conjunction with some good production design to give the movie the nicely grimy feeling of a trashy slasher movie. I’m super into that sort of thing, so I Heart Willie worked well for me.
Star Rating: 3 out of 5
There are visible technical issues, the acting varies from good to so-so, and the story starts off not-great, but that kind of thing doesn’t always bother me if the movie is successful in creating the proper vibe for its story. I Heart Willie is meant to be a trashy and bloody micro-budget horror movie, and it succeeds at that very well. It’s not going to be for everyone, but if you like the kinds of movies that my description includes, then you should check it out. I Heart Willie is streaming as a digital rental on Fandango at Home and similar platforms.
In the News
- News of Scott Spiegel’s death on August 20th came out yesterday. Scott was a filmmaker who did just about everything when it comes to making movies. He went to high school with Sam Raimi, and he co-wrote Evil Dead II (1987). He also directed movies including Intruder (1989) and Hostel Part III (2007), he produced 2001 Maniacs (2005) and Hostel (2005), and he even appeared in front of the camera from time to time. (Deadline)
- Veteran actor Graham Greene also passed away, on September 1st. Graham wasn’t specifically known for his horror roles, but a couple of his horror appearances include Antlers (2021) and The Last of Us (2023). (Variety)
Birthdays
Salma Hayek was born on September 2nd, 1966. Her breakthrough film role happened in 1995 when she co-starred with Antonio Banderas in Desperado. The next year Salma became a horror icon with her role as the vampiric Santanico Pendemonium in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). With her stardom firmly established, she has appeared in numerous high profile roles ever since. She doesn’t return to horror often, but she was in The Faculty (1998) and Tale of Tales (2015).
One of cinema’s most beloved actors, Keanu Reeves, was born on September 2nd, 1964. Keanu’s biggest horror role by far was as Jonathan Harker in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 adaptation of Dracula. Prior to that, Keanu was mostly known for his roles in movies like River’s Edge (1986), Point Break (1991), and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989). Since then, he’s amassed many memorable roles in all sorts of movies. A few of his horror-related highlights include: The Devil’s Advocate (1997), The Gift (2000), Constantine (2005), and Knock Knock (2015).
Ella Rubin is also celebrating a birthday today. Born on September 2nd, 2001, she is a burgeoning scream queen (if she wants to pursue more horror roles). In 2025, Ella starred in Until Dawn and played a prominent supporting role in Fear Street: Prom Queen.
Events on This Day
On the evening of Saturday, September 2nd, 1995, Elvira hosted a TV special titled “Attack of the Killer B Movies”. The show aired on NBC as a two-hour block (with commercials) that featured scenes from four cheesy movies from the 1950s and 1960s. Elvira and actors from NBC’s teen-oriented shows watched the movies and cracked jokes, “riffing” the B-movies like you’d see in Mystery Science Theater 3000. In fact, Frank Conniff, “TV’s Frank” from MST3K, was the head writer for “Attack of the Killer B Movies” (he’d left MST3K earlier in 1995). The movies riffed were: The Wasp Woman (1959), Killers from Space (1954), Monster from Green Hell (1957), and The Navy vs. The Night Monsters (1966).
Shark Night (aka Shark Night 3D) was released in theaters on September 2nd, 2011. Yeah, the movie is pretty cheesy, but I enjoy it. It’s about a bunch of friends who find out the hard way that the lake they’re vacationing at is filled with sharks. You can stream it now on Tubi.
