Willard (2003)
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Starring: Jackie Burroughs, R. Lee Ermey, Crispin Glover
Synopsis: A remake of the original Willard from 1971 starring Ernest Borgnine. A social misfit, Willard (Crispin Glover) is constantly humiliated in front of his co-workers and squeezed out of the family business by his boss (R. Lee Ermey). His only friends are Cathryn (Laura Harring), a new temp in the office, and a couple of rats he raises at home, Ben and Socrates (and their increasing number of friends). But when one of the rats is killed at work, Willard unleashes his rage – and his army of rats – on his tormentors.
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Usually when I review a remake, I like to draw parallels between the two efforts, comparing what works and what doesn’t. To be honest though, I really can’t use that approach this time. It’s been over ten years since I saw the original 1971 Willard and its sequel, Ben, and really all I can remember from both films is the musical number with a kid and his marionette (presumably doing the theme song for the latter film that Michael Jackson wrote, while still with the Jackson 5.) Furthermore, very little of it came back to me while I watched the remake, except I do remember thinking that Socrates was a really cool name for a rat. I don’t know if it would have made any difference though, for this movie was fairly unimpressive.
The seemingly ageless Crispin Glover does his best in the lead, but I really think his strengths lie in ensemble pieces (River’s Edge) or as comic relief (Back To The Future). His versatility stretches into several other areas including spoken word (Clowny, Clown Clown has been rambling around my head ever since I saw the video a few years back) and also some whacked out children’s books. I think his extremely emotional style is better served in smaller doses. In terms of casting though, I think they couldn’t have found anybody stranger to play the title character; save Michael Jackson himself, of course. Laura Harring is basically wasted as the possible love interest for Willard and that irked me some. Director Glen Morgan pulls out some X-Files alumni to help out including, R Lee Ermey. He puts in another loud appearance as the abusive boss character (not to be confused with his abusive drill sergeant character.) Just kidding, I love the guy. Kim McKamy, who apart from Morgan’s projects, has had a very ‘colourful’ career if you look on her Imdb entry.
Also, in an apparent cameo, which I must have missed, was Kristen Cloke. Moving on to Glen Morgan, I’m more a fan of his television credits, than his forays into film. Although, I did like his hardly hidden X-Files reference.
The main titles sequence is the instantly recognizable work of The Picture Mill, who you may not know by name, but if you spend any time at all watching horror flicks, you definitely know their work. The opening titles of 1999’s The House On Haunted Hill, coincidentally also a remake, is another one of theirs. Now, the music kind of fazed me. Everyone knows Danny Elfman’s style, right? You know it even before his name appears in the credits, but imagine my surprise when I clearly hear his signature sound and somebody else’s name comes up. My question is why, if Danny Elfman will seemingly work for anybody these days, would you get somebody else to compose a copy? That was something that bugged me and I guess set my mood in motion.
I did enjoy the rats though. I like rats. I think they’re cool animals with a lot of personality. The movie used a good combination of live action, puppeteering and CGI to bring this across. There were some great moments, namely with Ben and Socrates (the two main rats) and also some bad ones. The elevator-emptying scene was some pretty shoddy CGI work. So, I guess that’s what it boils down to. If you like rats, you might get something out of this movie, otherwise you’ll most likely be left empty handed.
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Copyright© Written By: Tom Servo
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