You’ll Be Squirmin’ with the Vermin Thanks to "Willard" -Tonight!

In our home base of Chicago, there’s been a lot of interest lately in the “Rat Hole”- the impression of what appears to be the outline of a rat in a sidewalk’s concrete - but, tonight on MeTV- a young man is tired of being under the thumb of a big cheese- and decides to fight back through an army of rats that he has learned to communicate with and control! It’s a riot of rodent revenge lead by “Willard”!

In this, the original 1971 version of the film, we meet young Willard- who is employed at the company that his father built, which, unfortunately, the crass bullying Mr. Martin has stolen away from his family. Not only is Willard pushed around by his heartless boss, but he is also plagued by his controlling mother- who has him wait on her hand and foot while whining to him about how he isn’t being assertive and suggesting how she thinks he should be doing business.

When his mom throws him a surprise birthday party that he wants no part of, full of her obnoxious friends, he heads outside the house for some peace and quiet- where he encounters a friendly rat to which he feeds a little birthday cake- an indication of what’s to come!

At work, big boss Martin feels Willard is not getting enough done, and has hired a temporary employee to help handle the workload- Joan, a cute blonde young woman who seems to be the only one sympathetic to the shy young man.

Upon Willard’s return home, his mother demands that he get rid of the rats that she has seen lurking around their garden! He sets out to do so, but feels pity for the poor creatures. He secretly makes friends with them, and learns to communicate with the rodents, favoring a white rat he names Socrates. Before long, he notices a new visitor- a larger rat that he names Ben. He begins to train the rats to do what he says and considers them his real friends.

Willard finally gets up the nerve to ask Martin for a raise- only to be made fun of and belittled by him. This convinces Willard to sneak his rats into a big dinner party at Martin’s place- with disastrous results!

When sad things occur in Willard’s life, he is pressured to sell his family house, but he resists. He also has seen his rat army grow in proportions, and realizes he can’t afford to feed his furry friends. He is driven to start using his “pets” to commit crimes that will take care of his financial plight- but things take a dark turn, as he continues to deal with Martin- and Ben starts to exert his own influence on his fellow vermin!

This is a memorable early ‘70s horror movie, and sure to put viewers who find rats creepy on edge. Bruce Davison stars as Willard, with his mother played by none other than the one-time Bride of Frankenstein- Elsa Lanchester! The cast also includes Sondra Locke as the sweet co-worker Joan- and Ernest Borgnine as that baron of bad bosses Martin. We’ll talk about the cast, and give some behind-the-scenes info about the production, as well as a variety of rat-based commercials that may seem familiar, get another visit from the beloved Nostalgiaferatoo ( this time working as an agent for rat actors?!),a new song and more.

“Willard” begins tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. We won’t rat on you if you join in on all the live-Tweeting during the show on Twitter ( should it become Squeaker tonight?!)- just make sure to add the hashtag #svengoolie to your Tweets. Our local Chicago area viewers get the chance to enjoy the visit of our friend Gina Schock and the masterful acting of Peter Cushing in “Evil of Frankenstein” this morning on CW26 at 11 am.

With the way the weather has been all around the country- it looks like the MeTV Mall has come up with the perfect items- the new Sven Squad blankets! Check them out, as well as other Sven headgear to help keep you warm!

Tonight- be ready for some fur coats- on an infestation of invading vermin on MeTV!