From my favorite movies..

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

As you may know, "Willard" was a big hit at the box office back in 1971. Probably the offbeat (and then quite original) premise explains part of this, though I think that the fact that the trailer included the part where Bruce Davison says, "You made me hate myself! Well, I like myself now!" attracted many moviegoers as well. Anyway, how is the movie through today's eyes? Well, it has top notch performances. Certainly, Davison is great playing a young man who is breaking down mentally, but kudos also has to go to Ernest Borgnine, who plays a real creep who is at the same time believable. Also, the movie also has a kernel of interest at any moment. However, the pacing by today's standards is quite slow at times; some fat could have been trimmed. Though at the same time, there are some moments where a bit more information should have been provided, like why Davison decides to befriend rats in the first place. Despite these problems, I think the movie does deserve a look, at the very least as a cultural artefact. And as I said, the movie is never dull despite being sluggish at times.

I find my self in agreement in 1971 with one of my favorite actors, Ernest Borgnine. He stated in his autobiography that he chose to take his money up front rather than a percentage of the profits. This was an unknown genre and he, as I and a lot of people felt before the movie was released, thought it would not go anywhere. He probably wished he has chosen the profits but it is clear in his interviews that he was a very happy man. In this movie, Hannie Caulder, and a number of others he showed how bad a villain could be.Willard helped launch the careers of Bruce Davison and Sondra Locke. She played a really nice person in this one who was REALLY the only friend Willard had. He realized that too late.It is easy to relate to Willard since he had been bullied all of his life and was probably a misfit to start with. It is a sad condition in our culture that when someone does not fit in that those around him/her instead of reaching out will smell blood in the water and pile on and often get delight in making that person's life even worse. Why is it so important to "fit in" anyway since our decisions not to run with the crowd should be respected. Often they are told to "toughen up" but that does not always work and often, like Willard, when they "toughen up" they go to a tragic extreme. Today's solution of "safe spaces" when someone feels isolated and has their feelings hurt will only postpone facing the issue. They will find out that there are no "safe spaces" in the work place and the real world. Thank God today there is a lot more professional help available that in Willard's day (1971) Ben was caught in the middle and did not accept that Willard could not save Socrates. Also, he got mad when Willard left him and his friends in Martin's office and felt abused and abandoned. Willard taught him to use the power he had and eventually he turned on Willard.This is the first time I have seen this (41 years) it is is truly a well made and well acted movie that launched two careers, added another dimension to a well established actor who had already won an Oscar, and launched a new genre. Good job everyone and a history making movie.

Willard (1971) *** (out of 4) Effective film about Willard Stiles (Bruce Davison), a rather awkward man who is pretty much pushed around by everyone who knows him. His entire life is devoted to his mother (Elsa Lanchester) but after she dies he sinks further into a strange mental state where he only friends are rats. Soon his boss (Ernest Borgnine) tries coming after the home he's lived in all his life and Willard decides enough is enough.WILLARD is a film that I watched when I was around ten or so and I really didn't care too much for it. Revisiting it over twenty-five years later it's easy to see why I didn't like it. As a kid I loved gory and over-the-top horror movies and that's certainly not what WILLARD is. No, this here is really a bizarre character study but one that manages to be highly entertaining because of four great performances in the film as well as a good story and a great character.There's a lot to really enjoy here but what impressed me most is the fact that for a "horror" film there really aren't any horrific moments until the finale. You certainly couldn't make a horror picture like this today but at the time WILLARD was released it became a huge hit. I really loved the low-key style of the picture and the fact that it spends the majority of its running time building up the lead character. Even though the viewer can tell that there's something wrong with Willard, we still feel sorry for him and want to see him win over his enemies.The screenplay gives us time to get to know and like the character but we're also treated to some great performances led by Davison. He really is wonderful here as he has a lot of details to the character and he pulls them off. Whether it's the nerd side of the character or the more broken down mental side, he nails everything perfectly. Sondra Locke is also extremely good in her supporting role as the love interest. Lanchester is always wonderful no matter what she does and that's true here as well. Then there's Borgnine who is terrific as the villain. He was a terrific character actor and he brings so much evilness to this character without making him campy or over-the-top. He's just the typical jerk that most of us know.WILLARD was eventually remade but it came nowhere near the level of quality as this original. The film manages to have an effective atmosphere throughout and there's just so much right with the picture that you can overlook what flaws are here.

Daniel Mann directed this surprise box office hit that stars Bruce Davison as Willard Stiles, a much put-upon young man who lives at home with his infirm mother(played by horror icon Elsa Lanchester), while at work in a company his late father started, he is being forced out by his loathsome boss(played by Ernest Borgnine) There is a pretty lady at work(played by Sondra Locke) who is nice, but Willard doesn't know what to say to her. His only real friend is his pet rat Ben, along with Socrates, and a growing army of rats caused by both his feeding them, and Ben's intelligence. When his mean boss kills Socrates, this sends him over the edge on a murderous campaign of vengeance that will be his undoing... Good acting and premise almost undermined by slightly indifferent direction, though this is otherwise a memorable, entertaining thriller that led to sequel "Ben".