Willard (1971)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Willard |
| Original title | Willard |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1971 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Daniel Mann |
| script | Gilbert Ralston |
| production |
Mort Briskin , Bing Crosby , Charles A. Pratt |
| music | Alex North |
| camera | Robert B. Hauser |
| cut | Warren Low |
| occupation | |
| |
Willard is an American horror film directed by Daniel Mann from the year 1971 . It is based on Stephen Gilbert's novel Willard or Uprising of the Rats (in the original Ratman's Notebooks ) and is the first horror film in which rats play a leading role. It can be assigned to the subgenre animal horror .
action
Willard Stiles is a polite but lonely and sociable young man who lives alone with his moody and bedridden mother Henrietta Stiles in an old and run-down villa. Willard is also dissatisfied professionally, so he has to work for Al Martin, who harassed him constantly and who had taken over his father's company years earlier. Only because of an old promise Martin made to Willard's mother, Willard has not yet been released.
Willard's interest in rats begins when he spots several specimens in the garden. He feeds them and teaches them tricks. He also speaks to them and gives them names, including Socrates , who proves to be particularly capable of learning, and Ben , highly intelligent, but also often disobedient. Willard's mother urges him to kill the rats, but he continues to be fascinated by them and finally sets up a new home for the rats in the basement. As a result, they multiply uncontrollably. When Al Martin throws a party, Willard, with the help of the rats, takes the opportunity to blow up the party. He gives them the previously trained command to look for food, whereupon the rats mess around the richly laid tables.
When Willard's mother dies, it becomes apparent that the family is deeply in debt. There is virtually no cash, the house has a heavy mortgage, and short-term tax debts have to be paid. Willard tries unsuccessfully to raise the money to pay the tax debt, and the house is imminent.
During a conversation between Al Martin and a customer, Willard learns that the customer is carrying a large sum of cash, $ 8,000. With the help of the rats, Willard succeeds in stealing the money and thus solving his financial problems.
After Willard's colleague, Joan Simms, does not respond to Martin's request to convince Willard to sell the house to him, both Joan and Willard are fired - Al Martin no longer feels bound by his promise after Henrietta Stiles' death. Martin intends to tear down the villa and build a new residential complex including parking spaces there. After Martin kills Socrates, Willard's hatred of Martin increases, and he kills him with the help of the rats, which are now perfectly obeying.
From now on, Willard wants to bring order to his life, he drowns some of the rats. He also meets with Joan for dinner. Then Willard tries to poison the remaining rats and has to deal with their leader Ben. Ben is able to warn the other rats about the poisoned food in good time. Eventually, under Ben's guidance, the rats kill Willard.
background
- With no special effects or dummies, the scenes were shot almost exclusively with live rats, the animal trainer Moe Di Sesso was responsible.
- The film was shown in German cinemas for the first time on November 19, 1971. It was shown several times on television, followed by releases on VHS and DVD - albeit with poor picture and sound quality.
- In the German version, Ernest Borgnine was dubbed by Hans Korte .
- For the main actors Bruce Davison and Sondra Locke , Willard was each the first major feature film. For Elsa Lanchester , who was best known in the 1930s for films like Frankenstein's Bride , it was one of her last appearances.
- In the United States, the film grossed approximately $ 19.2 million at the box office.
- According to his autobiography, Ernest Borgnine was given the choice between a higher salary or a percentage of the income. Borgnine opted for the higher fee.
Reviews
“A mixture of psycho- and sociogram and horror fable for a parable-like reflection of human behavior and techniques of domination. In the statement about the connection between violence, frustration and counter-violence, however, impaired by purely external macabre effects and the transformation of existential states of tension into homely theatricality. "
“Very successful rat horror with a good 70s atmosphere. The role of Willard is optimally cast with Bruce Davison ( X-Men , X-Men 2 ), one can empathize very well because the film works out its unfortunate situation very well. But Ernest Borgnine ( The Odyssey of Neptune ) also perfectly embodies the role of the villain . Since only real rats are used here and no special effects were used, the film comes across as very believable and should give many viewers goose bumps. Both the sequel Ben (1972) and the remake Willard (2003) do not come close to this masterpiece, an absolute must for fans of the genre. "
Awards
- 1972: Eddie Award nomination for Best Film Editing (Feature Film) for Warren Low
- 1972: Edgar Allan Poe Award - nomination for Best Screenplay for Gilbert Ralston
continuation
- A sequel followed in 1972 with Ben , which is directly linked to the plot of Willard .
- A remake, also called Willard , came out in 2003 with Crispin Glover in the lead role. There the main actor in the original version, Bruce Davison, has a " guest appearance " when he can be seen in a painting as Willard's father.
literature
- Stephen Gilbert: Willard or Rise of the Rats . Novel. (Original title: Ratman's Notebooks ). German by Walter Erev. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1972, ISBN 3-436-01680-2 .
Web links
- Willard in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Willard in the All Movie Guide (English)
- Willard in the online film database
Individual evidence
- ^ Entry in the German synchronous file
- ↑ Willard. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Review ( Memento of the original from April 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. by Marcus Littwin on Tierhorror.de
- ↑ Ben in the Internet Movie Database ( German )
- ↑ Willard (2003) in the Internet Movie Database ( German )
