Willard (Crispin Glover), an anti-social loser, finds relief from his bleak life by training rats, numbered in the thousands, to do whatever he commands. But his lack of personality, along with a relationship triangle between Willard and the rats Socrates and Ben, leads to tragedy.
A horror film completely devoid of horror, Willard has many amusing moments, mostly supplied by the manic Crispin Glover. But as a bizarre character study of Glover-filled weirdness, it goes on far too long. I like a few moments of Glover’s mental instability as much as the next person (and can’t help wondering what this guy must be like outside of films—does he sweat, shake, hyperventilate, stare with sunken eyes, and yell with erratic pauses when he is picking up his dry cleaning?), but that’s good for about ten minutes; then I want something more. Willard’s “more” is a lot of rats in a vengeance story. A lot of cute rats. These guys aren’t scary so much as fuzzy—a sea of fluff. They look very soft. “Oh no, they’re going to cuddle me!” I’m might have felt differently if these balls of plush carried out some of that vengeance, but it’s over an hour before they attack. Maybe, just maybe, if you are making a horror film about rats devouring people, you should put in some scenes of rats devouring people. Just a thought.
Willard’s greatest problem is its confusion on who is sympathetic and who is heroic. Willard Stiles needs to be a sympathetic character, and he is, for a time. He’s a man whose been dealt a poor hand and lacks the strength and understanding to kick over the table; in that context, his relationship with the rat Socrates is interesting. But Willard isn’t the hero; he’s a traitorous ingrate and my empathy for him is long gone before the film ends. Socrates is a sympathetic character, but he isn’t the hero either. His ability to judge character is fatally flawed (fatal for him). The hero is Ben. He has all the characteristics that would impress if he were human. Yet in myriad ways, director Glen Morgan works to make the audience dislike Ben and side with Willard. Of course Ben’s a humongous rat, but if you can’t get over that, this film isn’t for you anyway. If this remake had stuck with the original film’s ending, with its theme that all sins can be forgiven except turning on those you claim to love and care for, then the 100-minute ride with Willard might have been worth it, but instead, the filmmakers went for a serial killer/open-for-sequels conclusion that striped the film of any meaning. Well, Ben, while the filmmakers didn’t like you, you my friend will see, you’ve got a friend in me.