Glen Morgan, who paid his dues writing episodes of The X-Files, and its assorted spin-offs, and then finally made his big screen debut with his script for the original, Final Destination, has taken his directorial cues from masters of oddity such as Tim Burton, Barry Sonnenfeld (during his Addams Family phase) and George Miller. Morgan manages to create an unforgettable atmosphere that holds its own against, Beetlejuice, Babe: Pig in the City, Addams Family Values or Sleepy Hollow. Like all of those films, this is a dark comedy. Unlike those films, it becomes deadly serious, and that turns into what is nearly its downfall.
The further we get into the film, the darker the movie gets. About halfway through, we're no longer watching a dark comedy, but rather a fairly weak attempt at horror. The film doesn't succeed in scaring you, so the last half of the movie essentially fails. Only those lovable, huggable rats, and Crispin Glover's performance, pull it through. The best, and easily most comedic, scenes in the film feature Willard and his mother, and take place early on in the picture. During these moments, the film oozes of the original Psycho, only this time, "Norman's" mother isn't a corpse. Crispin Glover is the most perversely charismatic crazy to hit the silver screen since Anthony Perkins took on Norman Bates, in the original Psycho.
Willard could have been a classic. As it is, it's a fine little dark comedy that gets mixed up at the end and starts believing that it's a thriller. Oh, and I can't end this review without mentioning how pleasantly nasty the scene with the cat is. Cat lovers, prepare to close your eyes ... kitty's about to get hers! The Truth about Rats & Dogs? Nah ... too easy.
The further we get into the film, the darker the movie gets. About halfway through, we're no longer watching a dark comedy, but rather a fairly weak attempt at horror. The film doesn't succeed in scaring you, so the last half of the movie essentially fails. Only those lovable, huggable rats, and Crispin Glover's performance, pull it through. The best, and easily most comedic, scenes in the film feature Willard and his mother, and take place early on in the picture. During these moments, the film oozes of the original Psycho, only this time, "Norman's" mother isn't a corpse. Crispin Glover is the most perversely charismatic crazy to hit the silver screen since Anthony Perkins took on Norman Bates, in the original Psycho.
Willard could have been a classic. As it is, it's a fine little dark comedy that gets mixed up at the end and starts believing that it's a thriller. Oh, and I can't end this review without mentioning how pleasantly nasty the scene with the cat is. Cat lovers, prepare to close your eyes ... kitty's about to get hers! The Truth about Rats & Dogs? Nah ... too easy.