Hollywood eccentric Crispin Glover is perfectly cast in this whimsical, creepy reinterpretation of the 1971 horror. All tics and emotional insecurities, Glover shines as the downtrodden office boy who uses his two pet rats and their rodent pals to wreak violent revenge on his tormentors. Final Destination co-writer Glen Morgan makes a strong directorial debut with a film that's more gothic fantasy fable than outright chiller, a barbed tale with a sinister core full of childlike imagination and visual strangeness. Mulholland Drive's Laura Elena Harring delights as the co-worker who falls for Willard's introverted charm, while R Lee Ermey is in top Full Metal Jacket mode as his bullying boss.

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.