Willard (1971)

[blacksnake]

This review of Willard is of the 1971 version. The film is based on the book Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert (who also wrote the film's screenplay under the name Gilbert Ralston). The film is about a young man named Willard Stiles, who lives in a very big house with his mother Henrietta. Willard, does paperwork at a company that his deceased father started and is now owned by a man named Al Martin, who is also Willard's boss. Willard, is an outsider and made fun of by others and doesn't really have any friends. While cleaning the backyard of his house Willard, discovers a lot of rats he soon trains and becomes friends with. He names them as well and his favourite one that he takes along with him all the time is named Socrates. The other rat is named Ben. After, Henrietta dies Al Martin, wants to bulldoze down the house and tries to get Willard, to sell it but he won't so Al Martin, fires him. Now with his trained bunch of rats Willard, is going to get revenge on Mr. Martin, his mean boss. Willard, has good direction, a good screenplay, a good performance by Bruce Davison who plays Willard, good original music, good cinematography, good film editing and good set decoration. Willard, is an interesting story and I liked the way the film was made but from the way the boss is described he didn't come off as mean in the movie as I thought he would and I thought a lot of the characters lacked emotion and feeling. Also, I would have liked to have seen Willard, bond with the rats a little more and showing him training them. The film kind of jumps ahead by briefly showing us this and then later we see that they do his commands. The film is good but I thought the characters needed more emotion and I thought the script got a little ahead of itself sometimes. But still it's a worthy rental and I enjoyed it. Also interestingly enough this film was produced by singer Bing Crosby. This film was later followed by a sequel named Ben, and the Willard remake in 2003.

[ParileseMonster]

I bought this for a dollar a few months ago but have not gotten around to watching it yet. I am waiting for myself to be in sort of a so/so mood.

[blacksnake]

Post your review on the film after you see it. I'm curious to know what you think of it.

[Cushing]

Another film that I have'nt seen in years but I remember it fondly .
I don't fancy the remake much but , then again , i could be wrong .

[XCoRyX]

i SHOULD eventually check this '71 version out,since I did enjoy the remake so much.

[ParileseMonster]

I liked the remake but it depressed the shit out of me and Id rather enjoy myself with horror flicks so that is why I am waiting for a so/so mood to overcome me before I watch the original.

[blacksnake]

I didn't find the original as depressing as the remake at all.

[ParileseMonster]

I finally watched the original this afternoon and it was not as depressing as the remake thank God. The remake did a good job with sticking close to the original. I liked the fact that in the original Willard was not such a total loser like in the remake and that his mama was not as damn annoying as in the remake. I would watch this one over the remake any day. The remake was good but man it was so depressing it just made me squirm right out of my seat I just wanted to run away so damn bad.

[JayWolf]

That's what I liked about the remake of Willard. It did not shy away from what real life can feel like at times. I wasn't depressed by it but it sure had a lot of impact behind it. Personally, I like both films but I prefer the remake due to the fact it had more realism.

Plus, am I the only one who didn't find the mother in the remake very annoying?

[blacksnake]

ParileseMonster, I'm glad you saw the original and shared your thoughts on it. I liked the remake better because the characters showed more emotion, it showed more time with Willard and the rats and I thought Crispin Glover's performance was Oscar worthy.