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This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

As you may know, "Willard" was a big hit at the box office back in 1971. Probably the offbeat (and then quite original) premise explains part of this, though I think that the fact that the trailer included the part where Bruce Davison says, "You made me hate myself! Well, I like myself now!" attracted many moviegoers as well. Anyway, how is the movie through today's eyes? Well, it has top notch performances. Certainly, Davison is great playing a young man who is breaking down mentally, but kudos also has to go to Ernest Borgnine, who plays a real creep who is at the same time believable. Also, the movie also has a kernel of interest at any moment. However, the pacing by today's standards is quite slow at times; some fat could have been trimmed. Though at the same time, there are some moments where a bit more information should have been provided, like why Davison decides to befriend rats in the first place. Despite these problems, I think the movie does deserve a look, at the very least as a cultural artefact. And as I said, the movie is never dull despite being sluggish at times.

Willard (1971) *** (out of 4) Effective film about Willard Stiles (Bruce Davison), a rather awkward man who is pretty much pushed around by everyone who knows him. His entire life is devoted to his mother (Elsa Lanchester) but after she dies he sinks further into a strange mental state where he only friends are rats. Soon his boss (Ernest Borgnine) tries coming after the home he's lived in all his life and Willard decides enough is enough.WILLARD is a film that I watched when I was around ten or so and I really didn't care too much for it. Revisiting it over twenty-five years later it's easy to see why I didn't like it. As a kid I loved gory and over-the-top horror movies and that's certainly not what WILLARD is. No, this here is really a bizarre character study but one that manages to be highly entertaining because of four great performances in the film as well as a good story and a great character.There's a lot to really enjoy here but what impressed me most is the fact that for a "horror" film there really aren't any horrific moments until the finale. You certainly couldn't make a horror picture like this today but at the time WILLARD was released it became a huge hit. I really loved the low-key style of the picture and the fact that it spends the majority of its running time building up the lead character. Even though the viewer can tell that there's something wrong with Willard, we still feel sorry for him and want to see him win over his enemies.The screenplay gives us time to get to know and like the character but we're also treated to some great performances led by Davison. He really is wonderful here as he has a lot of details to the character and he pulls them off. Whether it's the nerd side of the character or the more broken down mental side, he nails everything perfectly. Sondra Locke is also extremely good in her supporting role as the love interest. Lanchester is always wonderful no matter what she does and that's true here as well. Then there's Borgnine who is terrific as the villain. He was a terrific character actor and he brings so much evilness to this character without making him campy or over-the-top. He's just the typical jerk that most of us know.WILLARD was eventually remade but it came nowhere near the level of quality as this original. The film manages to have an effective atmosphere throughout and there's just so much right with the picture that you can overlook what flaws are here.

Daniel Mann directed this surprise box office hit that stars Bruce Davison as Willard Stiles, a much put-upon young man who lives at home with his infirm mother(played by horror icon Elsa Lanchester), while at work in a company his late father started, he is being forced out by his loathsome boss(played by Ernest Borgnine) There is a pretty lady at work(played by Sondra Locke) who is nice, but Willard doesn't know what to say to her. His only real friend is his pet rat Ben, along with Socrates, and a growing army of rats caused by both his feeding them, and Ben's intelligence. When his mean boss kills Socrates, this sends him over the edge on a murderous campaign of vengeance that will be his undoing... Good acting and premise almost undermined by slightly indifferent direction, though this is otherwise a memorable, entertaining thriller that led to sequel "Ben".

This is a film whose sequel is better known . BEN is remembered by people of a certain age after being broadcast one night and everyone discussing it in class . Rats were a mainstay of horror helped no doubt by the notorious British horror writer James Herbert whose novels were a massive favourite of British schoolboys in the 1980s . WILLARD is a film I had no knowledge and as far as I know had never been shown on British network television or if it had no one I knew had ever seen it and I only knew of its existence by looking up BEN on IMDb to find that fondly remembered film was a sequel to this one . I also managed to confuse the name Bruce Davison with Bruce Dern and had visions of a bitter and twisted misanthrope plotting cruel revenge against a world who has rejected him . This as it transpires in not how WILLARD pans out There's a strange tone to this film . While up and coming film makers like George A Romero and Wes Craven were pushing the boat out as to what they could get away with WILLARD looks and feels exactly like a film that treats the Hats code as the word of God which was no longer in effect during its production . In fact much of it feels like it might be a romantic comedy or a Walt Disney film as a socially inept put upon young man trying to find some sort of target in life as destiny conspires against him Davison occasionally over plays the eponymous title character , but you do feel genuine pity for him as he returns home from work on his 27th birthday and the guests of the party are all friends of his infirm mother . He has no social life and his life revolves around work where he is bullied by his heartless boss played expertly by Ernest Borgnine . As some people have picked up on - it's too obvious not to notice to be honest - WILLARD spends most of its running time as a character driven drama with an element of black comedy and even when it does throw its hand in and becomes an out and out horror revenge drama it's quite bloodless . Some people might think this a completely bland film for that very reason but it makes a nice change even in a film from 40 years ago where character is to the fore instead of gore