Willard Remake Movie review by 'Retro Fett'

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The film Willard embodies the contempt I have for mainstream audiences and the Hollywood studio system in general. After poor test screening scores, the film was cut from an R rating to PG13 in order to reach a wider market. After more poor reviews at the PG13 test screening, a different ending was shot. The eventual finished product screened for two weeks in March 2003 and quietly disappeared. It was praised by critics, yet panned by the audience.

Perhaps Willard is too intelligent, too artistic, too original, to appeal to todays cinema going audience used to more fast paced, MTV style filmaking with spoon-fed storylines. Think I'm being a little harsh, consider this, Alien vs Predator grossed almost $40 million it's opening weekend, Willard grossed $4 million. Now that I've got that little tirade out the way, on to my review.

Living in a mansion with his sickly, domineering mother, and working for a sadistic, abusive boss, Willard is an angry, friendless, lonely young man. That is until he befriends Socrates, a white rat he rescues from a sticky trap in the basement. With Socrates as his only friend, Willard soon discovers he has the ability to command the rats living in his basement.. There is another rat, Ben, named after Big Ben because of his size (5 times larger than the other rats), who seems to defy Willards orders out of jealousy that Socrates is the leader. With the rats at his control, Willard seeks revenge on on his boss. When Socrates is killed in a workplace mishap, things soon become out of control as the rats, now lead by the defiant Ben, begin to take over the mansion.

Based on the cult horror hit from 1971, director Glen Morgan has taken a very Hitchcockian approach to the filming of Willard, the odd camera angles, a lot of tight shots, and cameras that stop and start again in the same shot, are all very reminiscent of the late Alfred Hitchcock. Even the screenplay blends elements from Psycho and The Birds. The film also has a slight Tim Burtonesque creep factor to it, yet ultimately, it is a wholly original work.

Crispin Glover (Back to the Future, Charlie's Angels) plays the title character, and it is hard to imagine another actor capable of such intensity and emotion required for the part of Willard.
R. Lee Ermey as the boss does what R. Lee Ermey does, just imagine his Drill Sergeant from Full Metal Jacket in a suit and tie.
Props too must go the the rats.

Willard is more than just a horror film. It is a smart, creepy, twisted tale of lonliness, friendship and revenge. Overlooked in 2003, it is definitely one of the best horror films, or films in general, to have been made in recent years.

THX to "Retro Fett" for this really good review.