I was invited over to the Strange Kids Club for a little Valentine's Day celebration. Rather than dirtying my hands at the Tenebrous Scrapbooking Station in hand-gluing macaroni to pink doilies, I opted to bring a movie review to this little horror blogging potluck. What better way to mark a holiday noted for making lonely people feel crummier than by discussing the boy-meets-rat love story "Willard" in both its 1971 and 2003 incarnations?
The "Willard" movies have an awful lot for me to love, so this is a veritable strudel of cinematic affection for me--there's layer upon layer of stuff to get excited over. Between skin-crawly rats, inspired production design, and some of my all time favorite actors delivering over-the-top performances (Ernest Borgnine and Elsa Lanchester appear in the '71 production, and Crispin Glover and R. Lee Ermey are incredible in the '03 version), these movies are swell almost beyond my capacity to express swellness.
Of course, I had a whole mess of leftover images from these movies, so consider this the extra materials to complement the main action taking place over at the Strange Kids' place:
Ernest Borgnine has had just about enough of your bullshit.
SHOW ME YOUR RAT FACE.
Nightmare fodder.
My attract and repulse instincts are fighting so incredibly hard right now.
Crispin Glover approaches grocery shopping with characteristic intensity.
R. Lee Ermey has also had just about enough of your bullshit.
8 comments:
What I love about the concept of "Willard" is the idea of a young man who is so isolated that he would rather make friends with rats in his home than with fellow human beings, especially at his job.
The twist of irony becomes more evident when Willard starts treating "Ben" the same way at home that Mr. Martin treats Willard at work, while showing favoritism towards "Socrates". And as "Ben" becomes more aware of this, he starts to become more resentful towards Willard and "Socrates".
This is still one of the most original stories that has ever been made into a movie, and the 2003 version (with Crispin Glover) is even darker and moodier, which gives it a more delightfully depressing feel.
Crispin Glover was amazing in the remake, but what made Willard so special back in '71 was that it was so unexpected. I remember seeing this at a little theater in Sag Harbor during that summer when I was 7 at a matinee with my brothers and friends, and leaving the theater totally gobsmacked by a movie that was far beyong my young mind to comprehend. The only downside of the two Willards was that it didn't have a Michael Jackson theme song.
Rats: Night of Terror and James Herbert's rat novels killed all elements of 'furry-dorable' in rats for me.
I nearly stopped myself from watching Shadow of the Vampire solely because it was directed by E. Elias Merhige, the guy who directed Begotten, a depressing load of pretentious garbage full of necrophilia, rape, murder, cannibalism and mass grave footage from the holocaust, totally without dialogue, that's at least impressively edited via reverse-filming and rephotographing, but it's still a truly repulsive film to sit through (and that is saying something, coming from someone who's seen Beaches)
I'm sorry, but I think that closeup of the rat is cute.
Wasn't there a rat movie that had a singing sequence with the young boy and the lead rat?
Matt, that's an interesting observation about Willard's treatment of the two "character" rats! I hadn't really thought about it that way, which is proof that there's a lot to look at here. Interesting stuff!
Fred, I was pondering watching & adding "Ben" as part of this project, but I figured I was verging on the too long; didn't read as it was! Though I've never seen the film, "Ben" is part of my karaoke ouvre (it's predictably awesome).
Chris H, I've never seen any of Merhige's other films, which is kind of weird considering how much I loved "Shadow." I think I'll safely skip "Begotten," though, as that sounds like a bit of a grenade to leap on O_o
Emily, that's how furry creatures trick you. They're all "look at my human-like expressions!" and then next thing you know they are pooping on the floor. So sad...!
AoH--yes, that's "Ben," the sequel to the '71 "Willard." I've yet to see it, but I might have to steel myself for further rat-related horrors...
A big thanks once again to Kate for being such a great sport and parking the Love Train over at the clubhouse for a day! :)
I re-watched the 2003 Willard last night actually and it was even better than I remembered. Crispin Glover is really borderline hypnotic in the role.
There's just one more thought that I would like to add in regards to the 2003 remake...
The only thing that I think should've been added to the scene that features "Scully" the cat is this: It would've been both funny and disturbing if the writers had decided to have "Scully" jump on the remote (laying on the recliner) and turn the TV on during a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon, with shots of Tom chasing Jerry as "Ben" and the other rats are chasing "Scully" - with the song "Ben" playing in the background.
Just the thought of that gives me the creeps. That's how I know it would've worked.
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