I Heart Willie

There’s a new sub-genre of horror films that cleverly use IP that has recently gone into the public domain. 2023’s Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey set the ball rolling. 2025 promises horror movies not just inspired by the original version of Popeye the Sailor Man, but also the original version of Mickey Mouse as presented in his first three cartoon shorts from 1928 (Steamboat Willie, Plane Crazy, and The Gallopin’ Gaucho). Alejandro G. Alegre’s (Inicuo: The Brotherhood, Patient 27) I Heart Willie is more inspired than many of its ilk combining classical elements of Beauty & the Beast and Frankenstein into a disturbing tale loosely inspired by a famous mouse.

Nico (Micho Camacho) is a successful social media star on YouTube whose show focuses on hunting ghosts and exploring spooky, paranormal locations. After hearing about the legend of a now grown-up mouse-boy Willie (David Vaughn) that was burned alive in a fire, Nico ventures there with friends Daniel (Sergio Rogalto), Jess (Daniela Porras), and Nora (Maya Luna) to film his most terrifying episode yet. What he discovers is something a lot more dangerous than what he’s encountered before.

After a sort of uninspired setup (at least it’s not teens camping in the woods), I Heart Willie gets going as it moves along. There’s more to the story than just people getting knocked off in the woods. All the main actors have really good chemistry, but Micho Camacho (The Devil Told Me What to Do) as the jittery, sarcastic Nico and Maya Luna as the mysteriously demure Nora are standouts.

As the killer Willie, David Vaughn (Love & Murder: Atlanta Playboy, The Color Purple) is a hulking presence who makes some bold choices in delivering creepy body language. His catch phrase of “Oh boy!” in the familiar Mickey Mouse falsetto is a bit silly, but it’s used sparingly.

The screenplay by David Vaughn (who also plays the titular killer Willie) reveals just enough about the characters to keep thing interesting while still focusing on having great pacing. There is a pretty good twist in the film that’s anything but a gotcha moment!

Director and cinematographer Alejandro G. Alegre has made a handsome looking film here with the creepy environs of Willie’s home looking like something out of David Fincher’s Se7en. Despite having limited locations inherent to a low-budget film, I Heart Willie always looks threatening and never looks cheap. Deaths in the movie are often gruesome, and there’s a fun bonus scene after the end credits.

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Maya Luna’s turn into becoming a slasher in training with Willie is done quite well. It’s written and performed in a believable way where it both surprises the viewer and still makes sense from a character perspective. Luna’s evil grin in particular is masterful and used to great effect.

It’s really smart how the backstory of Willie is not spelled out too much outside of the newspaper headlines in the opening credits and a brief conversation early on. Revealing too much of who Willie is or what his motivations are would make him less scary as a villain. It’s the silence that makes him scary.

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A clever horror film very loosely inspired by the most famous cartoon mouse in the world, I Heart Willie has enough twists to bring viewers back for more.

I Heart Willie comes out in theaters for one day only on February 26, 2025. For tickets and showtimes, go to https://iheartwillie.com.