Willard (1971)

Directed by Daniel Mann (Our Man Flint, The Revengers, Playing for Time) and released in 1971, Willard preceded, perhaps even helped influence, a wave of movies that followed highlighting either wild animals on the attack (Jaws, Grizzly, Bug) and/or social misfits getting violent revenge on their tormentors (Carrie).

Bruce Davison stars as the title character, a sad sack who deals with beratings and belittlings from all avenues of his life, especially from his widowed mother and domineering boss. After the emotional defeat of coming home to a birthday party his mother has thrown, populated by her older friends exclusively, Willard bonds with a rat in his backyard. This one rat quickly becomes a multitude, with Willard developing a bond and establishing communication with his rodent pals. Willard then puts the rats into service righting the many wrongs he feels have burdened his existence. 

The film was popular at the box office, inspiring a sequel and years later a Crispin Glover led remake. Sondra Locke appears in one of her earliest film roles as a love interest for Willard while Elsa Lanchester appears in one of her final cinematic roles as his over bearing mother. Ernest Borgnine pushes Willard around as the duplicitous, business stealing boss.

the trailer

the feature

Deadly Blessing (1981) - Repost

A repost, now with a functioning feature, sorry it's got Greek subtitles.

I first viewed Deadly Blessing (1981) during the onslaught of movies that were newly available to me through the wonders of vhs. While Wes Cravens' film output during this period is somewhat spotty, I've always dug this messy but atmospheric film.

After her husband is killed in a farming accident, pregnant Martha (Maren Jenson) has her two best friends (Sharon Stone and Susan Buckner) come to console her. Things quickly get creepy with a secretive Amish-like sect (which includes Ernest Borgnine and Michael Berryman) who think Martha is an "Incubus", recurring nightmares, and more unexplained deaths playing into the scenario.

the trailer

 

  the feature 

 

When Time Ran Out... (1980)

Producer Irwin Allen made this film towards the end of the disaster movie heyday. In this case, a volcano provides the destructive mayhem when it erupts near a newly constructed Pacific island resort, also threatening a local village. 

As is usually the case with his disaster films, Allen had a multitude of name actors under contract and this feature was loaded with stars, including: Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, Edward Albert, Barbara Carrera, Burgess Meredith, Ernest Borgnine, James Franciscus, and even Pat Morita. Legend has it that Paul Newman refused to appear in The Towering Inferno 2 and instead took this role to finish off a contractual obligation to Allen plus use his salary as seed money for his salad dressing company.

 

Super Fuzz (1980)

It's been years since I last viewed Sergio Corbucci's 1980 Super Fuzz (aka Super Snooper) on vhs. Terence Hill stars as Officer Dave Speed, a character who gains super powers after being exposed to a nuclear explosion. The late Ernest Borgnine plays his put upon sergeant. And you can't forget about the infectious theme song from The Oceans. Good stuff.


the trailer


the movie


the theme song

Convoy (1978)

Sam Peckinpah's 1978 film Convoy is often maligned by fellow Peckinpah fans but I've always enjoyed this dusty, double clutching, and populist exploitation flick.

Amongst all of his cinematic output, Convoy proved to be Peckinpah's most successful film in terms of box office receipts, grossing $15,000,000 in the United Sates alone.

As a favor to actor James Coburn, Peckinpah brought him onto the film as an assistant director so that Coburn could obtain his Directors Guild of America card. Rumors have persisted that Coburn's participation became much more involved as Peckinpah often bagged out of shooting due to being "under the weather" and Coburn stepped up to direct scenes in his absence.

The film is based on a song by CW McCall (aka Bill Fries) that was initially recorded in the mid 70s for use in bread commercials. The song became a radio hit in 1976 during a wave of CB related mania in the U.S. and was then altered to include specific details and characters from the film.

Presented below are the trailer and the full movie.

the trailer


the movie