for my moviegoing public -- Willard

Well, now Tery thinks I'm even crazier than before. She came home to find me in love with Crispin Glover in Willard. What can I say? Scrawny pale guys with black hair really do something to me. I assured her my infatuation this time included only this movie (read: my heart still belongs to Alan) because I really do feel he's very irritating in all his other roles. But this one seemed tailor made for him.

I was a little too young to get into the original, so I had no fond memories to influence me. I really liked this version, though. It has beautiful, atmospheric cinematography and some really memorable visuals (all of which involve Crispin with a flood of rats swarming around his ankles). I didn't think it was particularly frightening, maybe because I'm not skeeved out by rats like some people, and the one and only person who gets killed by them certainly deserved it (not giving much away here.....I could see this plot point coming from practically the third scene). In fact it very much had the feel of a more old-fashioned horror movie in that there really wasn't that much gore at all. But what the simplistic plot lacks in intensity and complexity Crispin more than makes up for. His face is shot so beautifully throughout that every emotion is absolutely crystal clear. I can't wait to watch it again with commentary.

My rating: 4 out of 5