1 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Earned back only 39% of its budget on initial theatrical β a commercial disappointment on release.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#01
Willard
"When the cat's away, the rats will play."
2003 1h 40m EN
π
6.1
MID
β
6.1TMDB Β· 385
HorrorDramaThriller
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
Desperate for companionship, the repressed Willard befriends a group of rats that inhabit his late father's deteriorating mansion. In these furry creatures, Willard finds temporary refuge from daily abuse at the hands of his bedridden mother and his father's old partner, Frank. Soon it becomes clear that the brood of rodents is ready and willing to exact a vicious, deadly revenge on anyone who dares to bully their sensitive new master.
βWhen the cat's away, the rats will play.β
Cast
Crispin Glover
Willard Stiles
R. Lee Ermey
Mr. Martin
Laura Harring
Cathryn
Jackie Burroughs
Mrs. Stiles
Ashlyn Gere
Ms. Leach
Laara Sadiq
Janice Mantis
William S. Taylor
Mr. Garter
Ty Olsson
Officer Salmon
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Glen Morgan
- Writers
- Glen Morgan, Gilbert Ralston
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- United States of America
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts πΏ
2 / 8
ERA
Did you know
Released 23 years ago.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#02
3 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Glen Morgan, shot by Robert McLachlan. Note their partnership β DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Shirley Walker. Worth a dedicated listen after β most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor James Coblentz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#05
6 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Crispin Glover and R. Lee Ermey and Laura Harring carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#06
7 / 8
FACT
Did you know
Marketing tagline: "When the cat's away, the rats will play.".
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#07
8 / 8
WILD
Did you know
IMDB entry: tt0310357 β still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Glen Morgan directs. Robert McLachlan behind the camera. Shirley Walker scores. James Coblentz cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Earned back only 39% of its budget on initial theatrical β a commercial disappointment on release.
- 2Released 23 years ago.
- 3Directed by Glen Morgan, shot by Robert McLachlan. Note their partnership β DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 4Original score by Shirley Walker. Worth a dedicated listen after β most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 5Editor James Coblentz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 6Crispin Glover and R. Lee Ermey and Laura Harring carry the top of the cast.
- 7Marketing tagline: "When the cat's away, the rats will play.".
- 8IMDB entry: tt0310357 β still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 9Classified under 14 themes, including "psychopath", "human animal relationship", "bad boss", "evil mother".
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Robert McLachlan
- Original score
- Shirley Walker
- Editing
- James Coblentz
- Production design
- Mark S. Freeborn
- Costume design
- Gregory Mah
- Makeup / hair
- Sandy Cooper
- VFX supervisor
- Stuart Robertson
- Sound
- Melissa Sherwood Hofmann
- Runtime
- 100 min Β· 1h 40m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $22,000,000
- Box office
- $8,564,586
- Return
- 39% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- PG-13
- IMDB
- Willard (2003)
Also by
Glen Morgan
Stills Β· wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames β open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- Nikoβ 6/10
Reviewing a remake, one can't help but compare it to the original film - in this case "Willard (1971)". While the overarching plot has been changed very little, the remake takes some creative liberties with parts of the story, some for the better and some for the worse. The titular character Willard has been altered to a point where he is almost a caricature of his former self. This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you want from this movie. It does however change the direction and gives the film a less serious and more comedic tone. I will say that the acting is pretty decent regardless. The changes to the rats, Ben in particular, were pretty good. I enjoyed the fact that he had a bit more personality. He was also substantially larger than the others, giving him a more unique appearance. I was however not a fan of the changes made to the ending and it felt much cheaper and less impactful than the 1971 version. The "moral" that the original had was nowhere to be found and it also did not tie in with the 1972 sequel "Ben", which I thought was a bit of a shame. I also felt like Laura Harring's character was kind of wasted and had not enough screen time. Willard's whole family was missing from this film and so where unfortunately a lot of the deeper relationships between characters. The whole build-up with Willard taking his rats on "missions" was also limited to just two scenes that were not nearly as tense in the remake. That said, Willard is not a bad movie by any means. You might very well enjoy this film, even if you're a fan of the original.
Production companies
Who made it
- HA
Hard Eight Pictures
US
New Line Cinema
US
Key crew
- EditorJames Coblentz
- Executive ProducerBill Carraro
- Executive ProducerToby Emmerich
- ProducerJames Wong
- ProducerGlen Morgan
- Executive ProducerRichard Brener
- Script SupervisorHelga Ungurait
- Special Effects CoordinatorRobert J. Scupp
- Visual Effects CoordinatorBridgitte Krupke
- Assistant Art DirectorCatherine Schroer
- Production DesignMark S. Freeborn
- Costume DesignGregory Mah
- Special Effects CoordinatorBob Comer
- CastingCoreen Mayrs
- Assistant Costume DesignerLaurie Giles
- Visual Effects CoordinatorGreg Baxter
- Art DirectionCatherine Ircha
- CastingHeike Brandstatter
- Script SupervisorChristine Lalande
- 3D SupervisorScott Edelstein
- Animation SupervisorDaniel Robichaud
- Casting AssociateWendy O'Brien
- AnimationCliff Mueller
- Visual Effects ProducerMandy Tankenson
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- psychopath
- human animal relationship
- bad boss
- evil mother
- remake
- sociopath
- revenge
- misfit
- mansion
- humiliation
- rat
- obedience
- lonely man
- pets
Release history Β· US
When it landed
- Theatrical2003-03-14PG-13
- Physical2003-08-30PG-13Β· New Line Home Ent. #N6417 [VHS] 100 minutes
Also known as
International titles
- Willard il paranoicoIT
- A Vingança de WillardBR
- Willard - MansΓ£o do TerrorPT
- γ¦γ£γ©γΌγJP
