Willard
Occasionally the marriage between actor and role can make an okay film good, and a good film great. This cinematic symbiosis is on display in “Willard,” the creepy remake of the 1971 horror thriller about a human doormat and his relationship with a rodent. Originally played by Bruce Davison, who makes a blink-or-you’ll-miss-him cameo in the remake, “Willard” was a character you could root for, a misunderstood young man who finds companionship with a horde of rats.
Crispin Glover, a living, breathing human tic who has made a career out of playing creepy characters, picks up where Davison left off. Glover couldn’t be better as “Willard,” whose devotion to his berating mother, disdain for his abusive boss, and affection for a white mouse named Socrates, culminates in performance that is appropriately larger-than-life.
One only has to look at Glover to see that he is the right man for the job. With his Peter Lorre haircut, intense gaze, and Milquetoast looks, it’s easy to buy into the notion that his only friend would be someone as unconventional as Socrates. “Willard” is the kind of person who probably got picked on at school, so it only goes to reason that he would rally for the underdog, in this case, a mouse that he captures in the basement of the decrepit house he shares with his domineering mother.
When Willard can’t bring himself to exterminate the mouse, he befriends the four-legged cheese eater, who eventually becomes his liaison to the rest of the rodents in the basement. That includes the leader of the pack, an enormous brown rat nicknamed Ben, who helps Willard dispatch his enemies, including his bastard of a boss Mr. Martin (R. Lee Ermey), who delights in tormenting the only obligation left over from his partnership with Willard’s father.
The 1971 film, directed by Daniel Mann, paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock with its subject (The Birds) and lead character (Norman Bates from “Psycho”). The remake, directed by “X-File” and “Final Destination” scribe Glen Morgan, ups the ante by including nods to popular culture, both classic and modern. Willard still remains a loner in the Norman Bates mode, a man with a domineering mother whom he loves, even though he wishes she were dead.
Morgan’s cultural references pay homage to the original film (the portrait of Willard’s father hanging on the wall is Davison’s mug), plus pay lip service to those who weren’t even born in 1971. The family cat, whose predilection for taunting rodents ends badly, is named Scully, Gillian Anderson’s character from “The X-Files.” Anyone familiar with Morgan’s work knows that he penned some of that series’ best episodes.
While the plot remains the same, Morgan takes advantage of modern cinematic trickery. The original “Willard” employed an army of real rodents, and while the remake features the same, it also incorporates animatronics and computer-generated furry fiends. Combined, they create a horde of rats that are truly frightening.
Equally frightening, but in a good way, is the film’s over-the-top performances, which are constant reminders that we’re not supposed to take any of this seriously. “Willard” isn’t really a horror film as much as a horror spoof, a cheesy goof on a familiar formula that works on its own level.
Glover is excellent as Willard, while Ermey, the perpetual hard ass (“Full Metal Jacket”), picks up where Ernest Borgnine left off in the original without skipping a beat. Jackie Burroughs plays the role of the mother (originally played by Elsa Lanchester) with demented glee, a woman who is never satisfied, and probably never will be. It’s not a stretch believing that Willard could love such a woman, even as she frequently dismisses him as a disappointment.
Laura Elena Harring completes the ensemble as the factory secretary hired to eventually displace Willard, and her vote of sympathy is a nice balance to the mean spirited characters that take Willard to task.
The dark and disturbing production design of “Willard” is the work of Mark Freeborn, who turns every nook and cranny into an malevolent maze, perfectly captured by director of photography Robert McLachlan in Grand Guignol style. Shirley Walker’s score mines numerous sources, and even includes a wicked tribute to Michael Jackson’s “Ben,” the Oscar-nominated theme song to the sequel.
For all intents and purposes, Morgan and his team have done a respectful job of renovating a seminal seventies film for the new millennium. The seventies were top heavy with movies like “Willard,” and even though a renaissance isn’t necessary, the remake doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it.
CHEESY NIPS Crispin Glover finds a soul mate in “Willard”
WILLARD
Crispin Glover, R. Lee Ermey, Laura Elena Harring, Jackie Burroughs. Directed by Glen Morgan. Rated PG-13. 100 Minutes.
LARSEN RATING: $6.00
