Willard is a 2003 American psychological horror film co-written and directed by Glen Morgan and starring Crispin Glover, R. Lee Ermey and Laura Elena Harring. It is loosely based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert, as well as on the novel's first film adaptation, Willard (1971), and its sequel, Ben (1972). It was not billed as a remake by the producers, who chose instead to present it as a reworking of the themes from the original with a stronger focus on suspense. Plot Social misfit Willard Stiles, who cares for his ill and fragile but verbally abusive mother Henrietta in a musty old mansion, is constantly humiliated and mercilessly taunted in front of his co-workers by his vicious and cruel boss, Frank Martin, who took over the Stiles family company after Willard's father Alfred committed suicide in 1995. After discovering and failing to exterminate a growing rat colony in the basement, Willard befriends and quickly becomes obsessed with a white rat he names Socrates, considering him his only real friend. At work, Martin locks Willard in the elevator, though Willard's sympathetic co-worker Cathryn eventually releases him. That evening, he watches Socrates begin tearing up a newspaper, prompting him to train the now-expansive horde of rats, including Ben, a large Gambian pouched rat who envies Willard's favoritism towards Socrates. After training the rats sufficiently, Willard takes them to Martin's home and orders them to chew up the tires on Martin's new Mercedes-Benz. The next day at work, Willard gleefully watches Martin arrive late and tired. While Willard explains to the rats that they must move out, Henrietta overhears him, assuming he plans to get rid of her. Startled by noises from the basement, Willard finds her dead the next morning, having fallen down the basement stairs. At the wake, Willard learns that Henrietta refinanced the family home to pay off Alfred's debts resulting in the house's payments falling behind and that the bank will likely foreclose upon the property. In Henrietta's bedroom, Willard finds an envelope from the coroner's office containing the effects found on Alfred's body, including the still-bloody pocket knife he evidently committed suicide with. Distraught, Willard attempts suicide with the knife until Socrates stops him. Attempting to comfort Willard, Cathryn describes her own mother's death and gives him a pet cat, whose own mother helped Cathryn to grieve. Willard reluctantly takes it, with Socrates safely stowed