In the 1967 original B+W ep Willie pulled a switchblade ( or some knife)on Burke in the Blue Whale. Tough stuff. It made it so when Barnabas turned Willie into his Renfield-like slave the Bat was doing Collinsport a big favor. What did Willie do in this remake before Barn got hold of him and turned him slave? Talk tough a little? In real life in 1990 there were a ton of murders in NYC alone. Willie turning deadly violent in the bar in the remake was certainly possible and realistic.