Just your typical “8-year-old-boy-with-heart-condition meets highly-intelligent-killer-rat and wreaks havoc on a small California town” story.
This sequel to Willard(1971) is probably best known for its theme song (a stirring love ballad sung to the titular rat which was a hit for 14-year-old Michael Jackson), as few horror aficionados have much time for its unconvincing blend of gore and gushing sentimentality.
Yet it’s a polished piece of work, with director Phil Karlson exercising the restraint he brought to his 1950s crime films, while the experience of 150-plus features is readily apparent in the atmospheric photography of Russell Metty (shooting his penultimate picture).
Lee Harcourt Montgomery is fine as the kid sheltering the rodent hordes, and Joseph Campanella business-like as the pursuing cop who discovers who is leading a pack of killer rats.
Danny Garrison
Lee Montgomery Cliff Kirtland
Joseph Campanella Bill Hatfield
Arthur O’Connell Beth Garrison
Rosemary Murphy Eve Garrison
Meredith Baxter Joe Greer
Kaz Garas Kelly
Paul Carr Reade
Richard Van Fleet
Director
Phil Karlson
Related Posts
Bilitis (1977) Celebrated photographer David Hamilton made his directorial debut with the story of an innocent and beautiful young girl called Bilitis…
Sweet Kill (The Arousers) (1972) Former 50's teen idol Tab Hunter plays Eddie Collins, a handsome milk-drinking highschool gym teacher living at a beach house…
Godfather: Part II, The (1974) Relieved of the need to be faithful to Mario Puzo's novel, Director Francis Ford Coppola embarked on a sequel with…
Boy Friend, The (1971) The Boy Friend began life as Sandy Wilson's small-scale pastiche of British musical comedies of the 1920s. When the play…
Across 110th Street (1972) Although it is often lumped in with the Blaxploitation boom of the early 70s, Across 110th Street is actually a gritty cop flick with…
Boxcar Bertha (1972) Martin Scorsese directed Barbara Hershey as Boxcar Bertha and David Carradine as Big Bill Shelley in this unconvincing Depression-era saga.…
Last Picture Show, The (1971) Director Peter Bogdanovich and writer Larry McMurtry examine the passing of an American way of life in this artfully assured…
Pulp (1972) An author becomes embroiled in murder and intrigue in the Mediterranean while ghostwriting the autobiography of an ageing actor with…
