Worthwhile remake of the 1971 original stars Crispin Glover (who's perfectly cast due to being quite eccentric in real life - and who has a great "evil grin") as Willard, a picked-on and quiet guy who in-between being lambasted by his nasty jerk of a boss (R. Lee Ermey, who's also good) and taking care of his sickly mother finds he can control common rats to do his bidding. From here is a mostly cat 'n' mouse (errr, "rat") series of mind games between Glover and appointed "general" rat Ben (named after the 1972 sequel of the same name) mixed with Willard using his new "friends" to take revenge on those who cross him.

With lots of morbidly amusing moments (the best one involving a cat) and a good visual sense by director Glen Morgan (who co-wrote Final Destination and makes his directing debut here) this is a bit leisurely paced but is deemed watchable and entertaining mostly because of Glover's performance and moments of "how'd they do that?" rat scenes.

Recommended change of pace with a script filled with lots of subtle humour (I love how they used the song "Ben" by Michael Jackson and if you're observant you'll see all sorts of rat references) and a really amazing shot when Glover is surrounded by a waterfall of rats in an elevator.

Not bad at all.

Directed By: Glen Morgan.
Written By: Glen Morgan.

Starring: Crispin Glover, Jackie Burroughs, R. Lee Ermey, Laura Elena Harring.