I'm as creeped out as the next person by rats, but they aren't what I'd call horror-movie material. If anything, this movie made them a lot cuddlier and likeable than I'd regard them in real life. Bruce Davison plays his character like some kind of idiot savante. His over-acted nervous ticks got on my nerves. Oddly enough, for a guy who sometimes hammed it up, Ernest Borgnine wastes a good performance. He's pretty much the only believable character in this whole mess. Sondra Locke looks good and manages to get through a movie without coming across as a screeching harpy, which is an achievement for her. If this was the undercard at the Friday drive-in let's hope it was paired with a good feature or the place would have emptied out early.

Willard was a good movie & Ernest Borgnine earned his pay. When they lose his character by rats. A stunt double didn't want to be covered with rats & Ernest Borgnine did the stunt work his character was written off. In "Convoy" as Sheriff Lyle Wallace aka Dirty Lyle one thing Dirty Lyle don't want is face a black girl named Denise Willard & her "Rat Pack" and this ghetto princess would be a "Dr. Ashida" to rats showed Dirty Lyle giant rats. Ernie Borgnine was a great performer as they say, "Old Movies Stars may die, but they never fade away!" Dirty Lyle, beware of the inner-city girl & her giant rats. And having my mind like "Dr. Ashida" from a Jonny Quest episode.

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".

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERSAh rats! No wait. That is the whole plot in 2 words.From "Marty" to Martin. My how Ernest Borgnine, fell from grace.How many of you knew, that Willard is the first name of Republican Presidential nominee, Willard Mitt Romney? Okay whoever named this kid is thankfully out of the gene pool. Who the hell names their kid after a baseball glove? What's next? A boy named shuffleboard?Okay anyway - the famous tag-line: "Where dreams end...Willard begins." That may apply to our poor baseball glove. No I could not begin to tell you how devastatingly challenged the contact lens acting, plot, dialogue, and scenery are. Nor could I tell you how dreadful the music is. While this is NOT as bad as Manos: The Hands of Fate, I am not too sure I'd ever watch this quality challenged cinematic blunder again. It is NOT even good fodder for Mystery Science Theatre.I think Alan Alda's quote: "There certainly is NO lack of slowness" sums it perfectly.