Willard (PG-13, 2003)

common sense media says

Terrifying and violent horror movie. Rats -- EWW.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is a horror movie with real horror, including some scary shocks, some very tense and suspenseful moments, and some very grisly images. Characters are in peril and some are killed.

Positive role models: The cast lacks cultural diversity.
Violence: Extremely intense horror violence, characters killed.
Sex: Character views a porn website.
Language: Some very strong language including "f--k" and "s--t."
Consumerism: Some materialism.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Brief drinking.

More on Willard

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about why Willard felt he had no alternatives, and how stories like this are often inspired by the consequences of keeping feelings inside and a sense of powerlessness.
  • Why was Willard unable to accept Katherine's offer of friendship?

What's the story?

What's the story?
In this remake, Willard (Crispin Glover) is a quietly desperate man who lives in a huge, decaying mansion with his even more decaying mother. He works at the business his father once owned, for Mr. Martin (R. Lee Ermey), a man who constantly humiliates him. Willard does what he is told. When his mother tells him to kill the rats in the basement, he goes to the store to buy traps and poison. But when a small white mouse is caught in a trap, he carefully rescues it, names it Socrates, and it becomes first a pet and then his only friend. Willard then discovers that he has a psychic connection to the rats, especially a huge one he names Ben. They become the embodiment of his id, the unleashed resentment and anger of 20 years. He looses them, with great satisfaction on Martin's fancy new Mercedes. But then, like the sorceror's apprentice, he finds he is no longer in control. The rats are hungry.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
It's unlikely that there will ever be a better horror movie about the relationship of a repressed young man to his ravenous rats than this remake of the 1973 version starring Bruce Davidson and Ernest Borgnine.

The movie's strengths are Glover's genuine weirdness and the stunning production design. Screenwriter/director Glen Morgan has both passion and feel for the material and a macabre sense of humor. Fans of the original will enjoy seeing Davidson's appear in a portrait and photos as Willard's father and a reprise of Michael Jackson's "Ben," the hit song from the sequel to the original movie, now even creepier than it was back then.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: New Line
Director: Glen Morgan
Cast: Crispin Glover, Laura Harring, R. Lee Ermey
Genre: Thriller
Run time: 100 minutes
Theatrical release: March 14, 2003
DVD release: October 7, 2003
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: terror/violence, some sexual content and language

This review was written by Nell Minow
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

 
Not as violent as it looks.
This movie from the trailer seems like their would be a lot of deaths and bloody scenes in the film. But there was only 1. It's about a man and his favorite rat, socretes. Socretes gets killed by Willard's boss and he wants revenge. So he trains Socretes' family to tear. Tear, tear, tear.

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ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child, some content may not be right for some kids
OFF: Not age appropriate for kids this age