Willard

Yesterday Max had to decide which movie to see; The Hunted or a remake of Willard. After a few hours of debating and checking out their web sites, I decided to see Willard. I was expecting to see a complete remake word for word as the original but the changes made really were very good.

The character Willard is played by Crispin Glover, who you might remember as Dad in the first Back to the Future movie, gave a real creepy performance. By the time the picture was half done, I could see him playing Norman Bates if they ever tried to remake Psycho again, which I hope doesn't happen.

Willard is a very disturbed individual who has an ailing mother, which he says is his reason for being late for work each day. He works for a company founded by his father and is now run by another man who's intent is to own it himself. Keeping Willard on has been an agreement made after the death of Willard's dad and that changes after the death of his Mother.

Little does anyone know, but Willard has made friends with the rats which have infested the home shared by him and his mother. Believe it or not, the bedridden mother can hear and smell the rats in the basement. The whole family is creepy which adds to this tale. The first rat that Willard is able to catch he names Socrates. The two seem to bond like a man and his dog. The rat even sleeps with him, how gross. Unfortunately there is another rat that is the biggest of the bunch and Willard names him, what else, Ben.

Ben becomes jealous as Willard favors Socrates and Ben is not allowed in Willard's bedroom or whenever Willard takes all the rats on his mission to get even with those he now hates. There are many scenes of the rats attacking other animals and people, but the gore only goes so far, leaving much to your imagination like a Hitchcock thriller.

The computer generated rats are very hard to tell from the real ones but believe me they spared nothing to make the biggest rat attack I have ever seen. Oh yes, Willard does get even with the boss and in many ways but the last one in the office is probably the best part of the picture. I will not be surprised to see a sequel given how the picture ended. You will have to see it and then decide for yourself.

P.S. limit what you want to eat while watching this one, you probably won't finish it.