Willard (2003 film)

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Willard

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Glen Morgan
Produced by Glen Morgan
James Wong
Toby Emmerich
Written by Gilbert Ralston
Glen Morgan
Starring Crispin Glover
R. Lee Ermey
Laura Elena Harring
Jackie Burroughs
Music by Shirley Walker
Cinematography Robert McLachlan
Editing by James Coblentz
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) March 14, 2003
Running time 100 min.
Country Flag of the United States
Language English
Budget $22 million
Gross revenue $6,852,144
Preceded by Ben (1972)
Official website
IMDb profile

Willard is a 2003 horror film loosely based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Gilbert Ralston and the 1971 film of the same name. It was not billed as a sequel by the producers, but as a re-working of the themes from the original, with a stronger focus on suspense.[1]

Contents

[edit] Plot

Willard Stiles (Crispin Glover) is a social misfit taking care of his ill and fragile but verbally abusive mother Henrietta (Jackie Burroughs) in a musty old mansion that is also home to a colony of rats. Willard finds himself constantly humiliated in front of his co-workers and is eventually fired by his cruel and uncaring boss, Frank Martin (R. Lee Ermey), a vicious man whose professional interest in Willard extends to a personal financial one. A co-worker Cathryn (Laura Elena Harring) has sympathy for the quirky Willard. Meanwhile, Willard quickly becomes obsessed with his friendship with a rat he names Socrates. Socrates has competition with a much larger rat named Ben. Nonetheless when Socrates is killed, Ben is more than willing to guide the army of basement rats to help Willard avenge himself upon his slave-driving boss, who has even more devious intentions to inflict on Willard, after firing him. Willard and his basement rats kill Frank Martin. Willard, however, mistrusts Ben and attempts to dispose of him and the other rats. The attempt fails, and Ben and his rat army return for revenge. Willard escapes with his life (barely) and kills Ben, but an epilogue reveals that he has retreated into a semi-catatonic state and been placed in a mental institution.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia

The framed picture of Willard's father is a picture of Bruce Davison, who played Willard in the 1971 film of the same name.

The 2004 DVD includes two alternate endings:

  • The original ending concludes with a pan from the outside of the house up to an illuminated opaque window of the library. After a moment, Ben's silhouette appears in the window, nursing its paw. The film then fades to black and ends.
  • The extended new ending includes additional footage in the asylum. A female psychiatrist sums up her diagnosis from outside Willard's cell. Standing next to her is Mr. Garter from the bank who asks her to sign a document which puts him in charge of Willard's possessions, i.e. his house. In the cell, Willard's soothing words to his white visitor are intercut with a shot where he looks at Mr. Garter and the psychiatrist through the bull's eye of his cell door.

[edit] Awards

  • Crispin Glover was nominated for Best Actor at the 2004 Saturn Awards for Willard.
  • Robert McLachlan won the CSC award at the Canadian Society of Cinematographers Awards for Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature for Willard.
  • The DVD release of Willard was nominated for a Golden Satellite award in Best DVD Extras at the 2004 Satellite Awards.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.willardmovie.com/movie_story.html Willard Official Movie Site

[edit] External links

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