Willard ( Ratman's Notebooks )

Willard (DVD) (*)

~~$20.99~~ $17.98

Alternate Title: Ratman's Notebooks
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Edgar Allan Poe Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Italian ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
Italy ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
95 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1971 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Daniel Mann

Written By:
Gilbert Ralston
Stephen Gilbert

Actors:
Bruce Davison ..... Willard Stiles
Sondra Locke ..... Joan
Elsa Lanchester ..... Henrietta Stiles
Michael Dante ..... Brandt
Jody Gilbert ..... Charlotte Stassen
William Hansen ..... Barskin
John Myhers ..... Carlson
J. Pat O'Malley ..... Jonathan Farley
Joan Shawlee ..... Alice Rickles
Almira Sessions ..... Carrie Smith
Pauline Drake ..... Ida Stassen
Helen Spring ..... Mrs. Becker
Alan Baxter ..... Walter T. Spencer
Sherry Presnell ..... Mrs. Spencer
Ernest Borgnine ..... Al Martin

Synopsis:

The original 1970s 'Willard' was something of a groundbreaking animal-horror film. Predating the snake-oriented 'Stanley' and other psycho animal-trainer films, the flick is really a psychological thriller about a nerdy momma's boy who turns to homicide to solve problems in his life. The 'hook' is that he uses an army of trained rats to do his dirty work. Davison is both sympathetic and socio-pathic as the film's wimpy title character. Willard is a white-collar worker employed by an angry and arrogant boss (Borgnine), who stole the family business from Willard's now-deceased dad. The young man's mother and her friends are constantly pressuring him to stand up and act like a man, while temp employee Sondra Locke is trying to romance him. Borgnine, meanwhile, simply relishes in busting his balls each and every day. On his off time, Willard has struck up a bizarre friendship with a seemingly intelligent rat named Ben, whom he keeps downstairs in the basement and who leads his own army of other rats. Willard eventually uses the intelligent rats to wreck one of Borgnine's parties, setting the stage for … you guessed it … murder. When his mother finally passes away, Willard learns that he isn't about to inherit much money, and Borgnine moves in to take his property -- the same way he took the company away from Willard's father. It's too much for the young animal lover to take. Willard finally sicks his red-eyed friends on Borgnine in an orgy of rat violence.

Willard is a pleasant but lonely young man who is unable to relate well to other people, particularly to his aging mother with whom he lives in a run-down mansion, and to his boss, who stole the business from Willard's father several years before. At the office Willard is constantly belittled by Martin, finding understanding from Joan Simms. At home he is nagged by his mother, particularly to kill some rats she has seen in their backyard. In the process of exterminating the rats, Willard saves them and finds as he feeds and plays with them that he can train the animals, by feeding them, and setting himself in their instincts as a rescuer. He baits the rats onto a pillar in the center of a well, and removes the wood bridge that they crossed. Then, as he fills the well, they are frantic, and he replaces the wood bridge; thus he cements their allegiance, and, in effect communicates with them. The mother rat, whose life Willard saved, brings one of her off-spring to him. Willard learns that through Socrates, as he has named his pet, he can order the others in the pack to do his bidding, except for the mischievous Ben, who occasionally disobeys. Willard tests the rats' obedience by disrupting a dinner party Martin is hosting, and when Willard's mother dies, leaving him with the heavily mortgaged house, he uses the rats to help him steal money from one of his company's customers. Willard ha begun the habit of taking Socrates and Ben to the office and letting them hide in the storeroom where one day they are discovered. Martin kills Socrates while Ben escapes. That night Willard returns with Ben and an army of rats and confronts Martin who is attacked and murdered by the animals. Ben looks for approval but Willard locks the rat in the office and returns home. While Willard is having dinner with Joan, the angry Ben suddenly appears. Willard rushes the girl from the house and then faces Ben for the startling climax of the film.

A social misfit, Willard is made fun of by his co-workers, and squeezed out of the company started by his deceased father by his boss. His only friends are a couple of rats he raised at home, Ben and Socrates. (And their increasing number of friends) However, when one of them is killed at work, he goes on a rampage using his rats to attack those who have been tormenting him.

This product was added to our catalog on Friday 25 January, 2013.

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