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Willard (2003)

 -  Drama | Horror | Thriller  -  14 March 2003 (USA)
6.0
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Ratings: 6.0/10 from 12,214 users   Metascore: 61/100
Reviews: 212 user | 124 critic | 31 from Metacritic.com

A young man with an unusual connection with rats, uses them at his own sociopathic will.

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(screenplay), , 1 more credit »
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Title: Willard (2003)

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3 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
...
...
Cathryn (as Laura Elena Harring)
...
Mrs. Stiles
Ashlyn Gere ...
Ms. Leach (as Kimberly Patton)
William S. Taylor ...
Mr. Garter
Edward Horn ...
Colquitt
Gus Lynch ...
George Foxx
Laara Sadiq ...
Janice Mantis
...
Detective Boxer
...
Officer Salmon
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Storyline

This is the story of Willard Stiles who is a social misfit taking care of his ill and fragile but verbally abusive mother Henrietta in a musty old mansion that is also home to a colony of rats. Willard then finds himself constantly humiliated in front of his co-workers and is eventually fired by his cruel and uncaring boss, Mr. Frank Martin, a vicious man whose professional interest in Willard extends to a personal financial one. Written by Anthony Pereyra <hypersonic91@yahoo.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

rat | revenge | vermin | work | at work | See more »

Taglines:

When the cat is away, the rats will play. See more »

Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for terror/violence, some sexual content and language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Official Sites:

Country:

|

Language:

Release Date:

14 March 2003 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

A Vingança de Willard  »

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$56,652 (Hong Kong) (9 May 2003)

Gross:

$107,689 (Hong Kong) (16 May 2003)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (DVD)

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The brand name on the container of nuts Willard first feed to the rats is 'Numm Nuts.' See more »

Goofs

The gender of the two main rats, Socrates and Ben change through out the film. In some scenes the rats are male and in others they are female. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Willard's Mother: Willard! There are rats in the basement!
See more »

Crazy Credits

Second Unit Chef Dave Carlson's credit is listed as: Cater to the Stars...DAVID CARLSON See more »

Connections

Featured in The House That Freddy Built (2006) See more »

Soundtracks

"Ben"
Written by Walter Scharf and Don Black
Performed by Crispin Glover (as Crispin Hellion Glover)
Produced by Crispin Glover (as Crispin Hellion Glover) and Robert Haimer
See more »

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User Reviews

 
Genre expectations tainted most viewers
25 March 2004 | by (Ohio, USA) – See all my reviews

People who hated this movie went to see it with the preconceived notion that rats would be doing a lot bloodier leg work for Willard. What they got was a movie wherein Crispin Glover kisses his best rattie friend and slowly ambles toward insanity.

Willard has flaws, and plenty of them, but they rarely detract from what is, at heart, a psychological parable and subtle love story. Crispin Glover's performance is one of his most genuinely human and believable, evoking ugly emotions rarely seen in Hollywood, while still retaining a manic kind of dignity.

You can hardly fault New Line for marketing Willard as a horror flick, since that is what would inevitably sell better. But Willard is really more of a movie for people who genuinely like rats, not those who fear them. It's a movie for people who find greater horror in failure and abuse and solitude than buckets of blood and gore. Willard is the kind of movie that aims to make you uncomfortable, but not truly horrified. It uses few of the common elements of the horror movie, including graphic violence, deformity, fear of the unknown, and sudden, unexpected movement or loud noises to propel you from your seat. It is slow moving and subtle, and often uses crude humor to detract from the more creepy moments. It shows itself as a juvenile in those moments, a child who has put on his father's suit and is masquerading as a serious adult. It is much like the character of Willard, in that sense, and the coincidence is almost admirable.

The movie is unquestionably more subtle, evocative, and well-crafted than its predecessor; it is also more faithful to the original novel, Ratman's Notebooks, than the version starring Bruce Davison. It's a dubious honor, some might say.

Willard deserves no prizes, but it is well-made to be what it is... not a horror movie, nor a drama, nor a thriller. It's an intimate little movie about a boy and his rat, and it is all the better for it.


8 of 10 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

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unlike Williard, Do not hold rats by the tail! robin-285
anyone else upset.... meganchughes
This movie really disturbed me DramaCutie54
Worth renting?! keepit_simple
Rat movies in general bhmllr
Willards Mom friggen_crap
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