Willard (2003)

Director: Glen Morgan

Writers: Glen Morgan, Gilbert Ralston, Stephen Gilbert

Composer: Shirley Walker

Starring: Crispin Glover, R. Lee Ermey, Laura Harring, Jackie Burroughs, Ashlyn Gere, William S. Taylor, Edward Horn, Gus Lynch, Laara Sadiq, David Parker, Ty Olsson, Kristen Cloke

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A new breed of friendship

Plot: Willard is an awkward, inept young man ostracized by the world around him. His gloomy existence takes a turn for the weird, though, when he discovers that his connection with a pet rat has gained him acceptance among the ranks of rodentia, and soon, Willard is using his new found army of vermin to get revenge on everyone who's done him wrong.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Sure.

I tell you what, you couldn't have picked a better lead than Crispin Glover and a better asshole of a boss than R. Lee Ermy.  They're both fantastic.  Then there's the rats.  I haven't seen the original or its sequel and yet I've now seen this one twice. I need to fix that. Good score by Shirley Walker.  The pacing is pretty good although it seems a little long which could be that there's another twenty minutes after Willard (Glover) dispenses with his boss (Ermy).  The rats attacking the cat had me squeamish.  That cat was fucked no matter how you sliced it and you knew it was doomed as soon it was introduced.  For a picture that takes as long as it does to get to the goods, it's fun and engaging and you can partially thank Glover and Ermy for keeping acting dynamic interesting and director Morgan & Co. for making it believable.  The New Line Platinum Series DVD has a commentary with director Glen Morgan, Producer James Wong, and actors Crispin Glover and R. Lee Ermy, a 73 minute (!) making of documentary, another documentary on rats (19 minutes), a music video of Glover performing "Ben", deleted and alternate scenes, the theatrical trailer and TV spots.