Willard (1971)

Directed by Daniel Mann. Starring Bruce Davison, Sondra Locke, Ernest Borgnine, Elsa Lanchester, Jody Gilbert, Michael Dante, William Hansen, John Myhers. [PG]

A boy-and-his-rats story quickly becomes a boy-and-his-rat-army story in this goofy melodrama. Willard (Davison) is a meek young man under the thumb of his overbearing mother (Lanchester) and his hateful boss (Borgnine). The lad’s too shy to properly court a kind-hearted temp (Locke), but he comes out of his shell a bit after discovering an affinity for the rodents in the basement… Cast gets at least a B+ for effort, but aside from a few quirky or macabre touches, director Mann gives this thing too little style or pace, and so the peculiar pic becomes tedious long before the rats really get down to business; it doesn’t help that nearly all the swarming horror is reserved for the last twenty minutes. Rodent “wrangling” and effects are highly uneven. A surprise box office hit that led to a sequel (Ben) and a 2003 remake.

49/100