Customer Reviews

Willard

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

It appears that Crispin Glover is carving a niche for himself on the silver screen, playing slightly creepy, social misfits ("Back to the Future", "Bartleby"). In this re-make of the 1971 film of the same name that starred Bruce Davidson, Crispin Glover plays the title role, that of Willard Stiles.

Willard is a lonely young man who lives in a huge mansion from days gone by with his decaying, elderly mother (Jackie Burroughs). He works in the industrial plant that used to belong to his father, before it was stolen out from under him by Mr. Martin (R. Lee Ermey), the man who is now Willard's boss. Cruelly tormented at work by Mr. Martin and beset at home by his overbearing mother whom he loves in an obsessive Norman Bates type of way, Willard is just plain weird.

When he discovers that his home is plagued by rats, instead of exterminating them, he befriends one of them, a white rat whom he names Socrates, who is in command of the horde of rats that reside in the basement. His second in command is a huge brown rat whom Willard names Ben but whom he does not like. The horde of rats seem to live to do Willard's bidding. All that changes when the lovable Socrates meets a cruel and untimely end. That event totally unhinges both Willard and Ben, and therein lies the tale.

Directed by X Files graduate Glen Morgan, with superlative production values, the film has an inside joke that X File fans, such as myself, will appreciate. Look for the orange cat, appropriately named Scully after red head Gillian Anderson, who plays the role of the same name in the X Files series. Moreover, links to the original "Willard" film, upon which this one is predicated, abound in the film. The portrait and family photographs of Willard's father look surprisingly like those of Bruce Davidson.

It is as if the film were written tongue-in-cheek, as there is really nothing all that horrific about it, other than the demise of Socrates. In fact, as a true horror film, it fails. Even the rats are not scary. They end up being merely funny. This filmed failed at the box-office for this reason, because the powers that be marketed it as a horror genre film. As a portrait of the disintegration of a lonely, social misfit, however, the film fares better, due to the inspired casting of Crispin Glover. It is a film worth seeing, if only for Crispin Glover's performance.

If you were expecting a "cool, killer animal" film, do not see this movie. If you were expecting a carbon copy of the original horror cult classic, do not see this film. The new "Willard" is not a bloody, slasher movie, despite how the trailers make it out to be. "Willard" is an intelligent, psychological thriller/drama about a lonely man (played excellently by my new favorite actor, Crispin Glover [another film he was great in was "Bartleby",...) who befriends a little white rat named Socrates, only to find that not only can he communicate with the rat, but the rat can send his communications off to the hundreds of other rats living in Willard's basement. He soon develops a great friendship with Socrates, and uses the rats for revenge. One of the other rats is a humongus fellow named Ben who desperately wants to be part of Willard's and Socrates' friendship, but Willard shuns Ben, and only uses him when he needs him. Well, I don't want to go into too much detail, but a sort of love triangle evolves with Willard, Socrates, and Ben. There is also a thing going on with Willard's mother, who lives with him, and Willard's horrible boss. Willard's and Socrate's relationship is truly endearing, creating a beautiful film. This film is perfect if you love rats, hate them, or just like Crispin Glover, as he really shines here. It is enhanced with very cool cinematography (with very little CGI- Ben is somewhere around nine pounds and he is a *real* rat), and good music. A must see!

"Willard," with Crispin Glover in the title role, was a more creepy, atmospheric film than a general horror film. At no time while watching it did I really ever feel scared, which disappointed me. I wanted, you know, to jump at least once, and you'd figure that'd be par for the course in a film filled with so many rats. But it didn't happen, for it turns out that the "Willard" remake doesn't aspire to be that kind of horror movie. It's more "Edward Scissorhands" and "Psycho" than "Urban Legend," thank God.

The constantly underrated, creepy Crispin Glover is absolutely perfect in the title role, reminiscent of Anthony Perkins, as a browbeaten man who turns to friendship with rats in order to find acceptance and later exact revenge on those who've wronged him. The film, on the whole, is macabre in its costuming, set design and even its opening credits. The production value is noticeably high.

The supporting cast is very strong, including Jackie Burroughs as Willard's half-decomposed, senile mother and Laura Elena Harring as the girl who tries to care for Willard. Still, R. Lee Ermey steals every scene he's in as Willard's belligerent, evil boss. His demise, fittingly, is the visual and emotional climax of the film.

The ending of the movie pays homage to "Psycho," and the original "Willard," which I've not seen, gets its due by featuring Bruce Davison in portraits as Willard's father. Davison, of course, was the original Willard.

"Willard" is creepy fun, and it left me impressed.

I wish I saw this sadly underrated gem in the theater. I think the reason it failed there was because it was marketed as a horror film with killer rats, and to me, it isn't a horror film. The film is primarily about one man's descent into madness; the rats in this film serve more to illustrate this, rather than as a tool for horror and scares. The most important things about this film are the atmosphere, which throughout the film is creepy and gothic, and the acting, which is silmply fantastic. It'll never happen, but I think Glover should get an Oscar nomination for this role.
I believe that this film would have succeeded if it were marketed as an art-house film rather than as a scary horror film.

"Willard" is another one of those movies that disappeared quickly after being released that turns out to be a lot better than you would have thought when you check it out on DVD. If anything this remake of "Willard" is too slick for its own good and there is a point where an army of computer generated rats cannot help but remind you that it is computer generated (as opposed to being the work of rat wranglers). But is is a stylish effort which reaches its apex in the shot where a waterfall of rats empties out of an elevator to reveal Willard with Ben and few friends on his shoulders. However, if there is a quintessential moment in this film it is when Willard is given the gift of a cat, which he tosses into his house where the poor feline discovers it is grossly unnumbered. As the rats turn the tables on the cat, we hear Michael Jackson sing "Ben." You have to admit, there is a sense of fun and joy to the sequence rarely found in a horror film.

The familiar story for those of us who remember Bruce Davidson in 1971 (his cameo is as photographs of Willard's late father) is that Willard (Crispin Glover) is stuck at a dead end job at the business founded by his father but now run by the cruel taskmaster Frank Martin (R. Lee Ermey), while at home he takes care of his infirmed mother (Jackie Burroughs). Willard does not have a friend in the world before he finds one in Socrates, a white rat. Then he discovers that the other rats in the basement are willing to listen to what he says. Well, except for the largest of the bunch, named Ben, and all of the ingredients are in place for the death and mayhem.

Writer-director Glen Morgan apparently wrote the script for "Willard" with actor Doug Hutchison (Percy Wetmore in "The Green Mile") in mind for the title role. This is rather ironic because the chief attraction of this film is the performance of Crispin Glover. To every one who saw Glover in the first "Charlie's Angels" film, the fact that he would be perfect as Willard Stilles seems fairly obvious. Emery, as the film's villain, is not as scary as he was in the remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but still has its moments and it was certainly a trip to see Burroughs, remembered as Aunt Hetty from "Tales of Avonlea," as Willard's mother, who decides that his problem is his name and re-christens him "Clark." Laura Elena Harring plays Cathryn, the temp worker hired to help Willard at work and who takes a liking to him despite his problems, but she is never more than an observer on the festivities.

The DVD extras are fairly interesting given the problems Morgan had it putting a finished film together. Starting with a R-rated version that gets below average ratings from the first preview audience, he cobbles together a pair of PG-13 versions, with a changed ending, but each version gets even lower scores and the film is sent off into the world to only make $4 million its first week, finish in eighth place, and disappear a fortnight later. The back story on this remake is more interesting than most. There is also a music video of Glover doing "Ben," which he signs over the end credits of the film, as well as the usual deleted scenes and assorted featurettes. Even if you have not seen the original and even though it is not a really horrific horror film despite all those rats, this one is worth a look.

In some cases, time and technological advances help a remake improve upon the original. This is one of those cases.

The original "Willard" was clever and frightening in an intellectual sort of way, but the cheest special effects with the rats provided many unintentional laughs, something you do not want when you're watching a horror movie. Now, with CGI and other special effects advancements, the cheesiness has been eradicated, leaving you to enjoy a very good storyline.

Crispin Glover makes one hell of a Willard. Given his off-the-wall personality off-screen, it seems as if he was made for this role. His natural quirkiness plays a hand in making the audience really believe in the character. The character is both disturbing and sympathetic because of this, a nice blend.

Also, fans of the original "Willard" and its sequel "Ben", take note. There's a funny nod to those films here. I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen this movie, but I will say it's a rather funny (and fitting) homage.

"Willard" was a great and pretty weird movie. There were some parts that were sad though. But I still think that it was a great movie!

Tare it up!

As soon as I saw the trailer for Willard I got chills of excitement. Seeing Crispin Glover taking on this role was genius as it seemed to be the perfect vessel for his eccentric talent, though I also knew the film would not draw a large audience. The best ones never do. I was surprised to hear Glover was far from the first choice. It seems like a natural selection.

Having grown up in the 70's seeing the original film on late night TV, the primary selling point to me for this remake was Glover. I never found the rat-lover story exceptionally intriguing but with this casting it put such an excitement in me. I couldn't wait.

The weekend Willard opened shortly followed a personal trauma that left me in a lingering black mood and I hoped this film would remind me that I wasn't completely alone in the world, that there are others that enjoy and create the same things that appeal to me. I walked in the theater that afternoon to the absolute perfect setting. I was the only one there. I anxiously sat waiting for the film to start, hoping no one else would come in to bother me. The lights dimmed and the movie started with me the sole viewer. From the second the music started and the credits rolled I got a chill that remained for the duration of the film. What an amazing experience this was. Glover was, as anticipated, absolutely brilliant. The bits of wicked humor just added to my assumption that this film will not appeal to the average dullard going to see the latest Adam Sandler trash. When the mother decided to start calling Willard 'Clark' I about died. I didn't expect laughs from this film but, thankfully, the laughs I got were witty and intelligent. Glover plays the misfit Willard, a character that would probably make anyone uncomfortable if you met him in person but when you view his home life and other surroundings you can't help but sympathize with him. Since the movie's plot has been well covered I will just mention that I left the theater feeling 100% satisfied with what I saw.

The day the DVD was released I snapped it up. After loving the film a second time I watched the 73 minute documentary added to the disc. What a wonderful insight this was. It was so sad to see how poor the test screenings went. You could see the disappointment and frustration growing on director Glen Morgan's face with each slap from the ignorant public. This is what really burns me. A director dares to steps outside the standard Hollywood formula and the response he gets from the test audience is that it should be more like every other Hollywood film. I'm so bored by films that are nothing but last weeks big hit with a different setting, and occasionally different actors. I can guess most things before they happen and the predictability is stagnating. This film was amazingly original with a lasting effect. I was very pleased to see New Line sticking by their film, allowing the director to only make the changes he wanted to. The new ending they added retained it's dignity and did not detract from the film at all. My only complaint is they should have included the original R rated version as the "Directors cut" on the DVD as well.

By the end of the documentary the director looks a bit worn and drained. He was proud of his film, as he should be, but just terribly disappointed it made little public impact. I felt so bad for him I just wanted to give him a big hug. I hope he reads these postings from numerous fans of the film and takes comfort that while his film did not find an audience on its initial release, it's doing quite well at building a devoted cult following on video. I hope he continues to make films that he enjoys and not what Hollywood thinks he should. It seems the few negative remarks here are from people that think it wasn't very "scary". I enjoy a good scare myself but I also enjoy a smart film built on atmosphere and story, not effects. But then what do I know, my favorite film is The Stepford Wives (the original, not the horrid Hollywood remake).

Crispin played the role of George McFly perfectly in Back to the Future, and he respectfully found the opportunity to finally do it now in Willard. As george McFly, he had one of the most ingenious roles ever, and I have always wished he was wrtten into the second and third films of Back to the Future more legitimately. Did you see him on Conan OBrian? What a geunine innocent, the coolest guy ever. It's as though any interaction he has with the public is an exposure on his lifestyle, so simlar to the movie. So yes, I think he fits this role as Willard, perfectly. There needs to be a jump-start to a new era of respect for his acting, and as other highly respected actors in Holywood, scripts need to be written specifically for Crispin Glover, simply because of his incredible unique presence on film and in front of the media.

Willard is definitely going to attract cult classic viewers and hopefully the larger public eye. Of course saw the movie on Sunday having only the person I came with and 1 other couple in the theater, but I hope it still stands well in the box office.

In any case, the characters are "overly" exaggerated in style and it fits. His boss is "overly" and uncontrollably bullish, his mom is "overly" gross and old, the girl is "overly" innocent, caring and naive, the rats are just "overly" abundant, and Willard for sure is "overly" confined and whacked out of his gourd. The coolest movie out right now for sure.

Crispin Glover does an excellent job as the title character. Willard lives with his mother, is anti-social, works at a company that used to be his father's, is shy, and just plain strange. But things begin to change when he has to get rid of some pests in his house. He tries traps of various kinds to find that the culprit is very smart. But then it gets caught in a glue trap. Willard feels sorry for it and releases it. Because it was so smart he calls it Socrates and befriends it. But Socrates has plenty of friends, including a giant rat that Willard dubs Ben.

Willard begins to train the rats and starts to come out of his shell. But he is not coming out in an upward direction. He is coming out and going straight down to madness. Soon a girl starts to be interested in him but the rest of his life takes a turn for the worse. Revenge is in the offing and Willard and his rat army begin a reign of terror, starting with property damage and moving on to murder.

The film does a very good job of following the original movie, although Ben is now huge and Willard is scared of him. The rat effects are quite well done and the suspense is handled nicely. Willard's descent into madness is believable. The DVD contains an alternate ending (both are good). The odd thing about the movie was that it ended with Glover singing the Ben love ballad, not appropriate considering their relationship. There is even a music video for it on the disk. But other than the inappropriateness of the song at the end, the movie is very well done.