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Willard (1971) - Blu-ray Review

3 beersRats. Why’d it have to be rats.

Willard Stiles.  Now, there’s a character for horror fans to discuss and nibble over.  Portrayed by Bruce Davison, this socially inept character is ridiculously authentic throughout 1971’s Willard.  It is downright disturbing just how well Davison NAILS, the young man at the center of this disturbing tale.  At odds with the world around him, Willard turns to the one thing that keeps him warm at night: rats. 

Through Davison's performance, we get a peek into a dysfunctional world of teenage angst.  Every twitch, every comment, every petty prank is delivered with a fierce attraction to reality that, having just watched Scream Factory’s HD release of the cult classic, makes me believe I’ve had a couple of Willard types in my classroom over the years.  God help us all if they owned any rats or hamsters.  The point is that, regardless of Willard’s lack of shooting style, the performances in this flick are extraordinary and probably why - outside of the subject matter - we still talk about this little thriller.

Willard, who defies his crazy mother (Elsa Lanchester) and doesn’t kill the small number of rats creating a nest in the yard behind her huge Victorian home, pays the ultimate price when he favors a white rat over all the others.  Socrates is the name Willard gives him and the biggest rat in the den – whose name is Ben – doesn’t particularly care for their bond.  And, of boy, is Ben ever a smart (and creepy) cookie with a cunning ability to whip all the other rats into order.

At work, Mr. Martin (Ernest Borgnine) continues to put Willard down and treat him poorly.  He even trashes the poor boy's deceased father.  Even the new arrival in the office, Joan (Sondra Locke in her feature debut), thinks so and thus begins their brief office flirtation.  But, damn, if Willard can’t catch a break and so, faced with an empty house, he befriends his growing rat population, eventually bringing both Ben and Socrates to work with him.  

Grieve all you want to for Willard.  Just don't give him any cats.

Written by Gilbert Ralston (who helped create The Wild Wild West television show and wrote Willard’s sequel, Ben) and directed by Daniel Mann (Our Man Flint), Willard first finds its footing as a demented romp through a peculiar upbringing and then, upon the passing of Willard’s mother, goes deep into the darkness as the world of financial ruin is mortgaged upon Willard. 

All alone, Willard is faced with insurmountable pressures and suddenly cracks when he orders Ben to kill his boss upon the smashing of Socrates.  The irony of him becoming Mr. Martin-like to his rats escapes the youth.  How tragic.  If you’re like me, it is at this point where you begin to feel sorry for the rodents more than for the boy.

While the scene is disturbing, it does more to freak Willard out than it does us.  His reaction is one of disgust and so he runs back home to plug every crack and corner of his home.  Who knew rat proofing could be so absurdly taxing?  But the bond between a boy and his rats is not so easily broken.  It will take an act of treason and once Ben gets an eyeful of rat poison, Willard discovers that, yes, even his days are numbered.

But Ben isn’t going to take shit from anyone. 

And that’s the territory of this little creeper.  It’s a most definitely a low budget flick.  Its point and shoot direction leaves a lot to be desired as it passes itself off as a cheerful narrative, rather than strive to creep us out.  Yet, tangled deep within its structure is the starting place for supernatural teenage-helmed flicks like Carrie.  Without the success of Willard, there is an awful lot of great horror titles we’d be without. 

Bing Crosby’s Estate has finally released the family’s death grip on this cult classic, granting it new life.  Willard is now available on a Blu/DVD combo release that has been 4K scanned from the original camera negative courtesy of Scream Factory.

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Carrie: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review and Details

MPAA Rating: PG.
Runtime:
95 mins
Director
: Daniel Mann
Writer:
Gilbert Ralston
Cast:
Bruce Davison, Elsa Lanchester, Sondra Locke
Genre
: Horror
Tagline:
This is the *one* movie you should not see alone.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Tear him up!"
Theatrical Distributor:
Cinerama Releasing Corporation
Official Site:
Release Date:
July 30, 1971
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
May 16, 2017
Synopsis: Willard Stiles (Bruce Davison, Insidious: Chapter 4) is a young man with a big problem. He lives alone in a crumbling house with his ailing mother (Elsa Lanchester, Arnold, Bride of Frankenstein). His boss, Al Martin (Ernest Borgnine, Escape from New York) is a vulgar, cruel man who stole his business from Willard's father and is now working Willard to death at his factory job.

Lonely, depressed and isolated, Willard is on the verge of a breakdown when he makes a new friend: Ben, one of the many rats who inhabit his dilapidated home. Not only can Willard communicate with the rodent, but he can actually command him to do his bidding. Using Ben and his furry friends as instruments of retaliation, Willard commands his pets to carry out his vengeance...

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Willard (1971) - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray
- May 16, 2017
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English
language:
English
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A/1

With an aspect ration of 1.85:1, Scream Factory releases Willard and his rats onto blu-ray with a clear and fine-tuned 4K transfer.  The new high-definition transfer has been culled from the film’s internegative and pops with color.  Gone is the orange wash from previous releases.  While lighting is still an issue, it’s not going to get any better looking than with this release right here.  Black levels are solid.  It comes with the territory of the b-movie.  The sound is distributed here with an adequate DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • Actor Bruce Davison provides an excellent film commentary about the making of the movie and what he remembers from being on the set.

Special Features:

Outside of the new 4K scan of the original camera negative and the audio commentary from Davison, there’s a NEW on-screen interview with the actor (Davison), a theatrical trailer, TV spots, and radio spots.  There is also a gallery of images from the movie.

  • Bruce Davison Interview
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • TV Spot
  • Radio Spots
  • Still Gallery

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Willard (1971) - Blu-ray Review

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