Gilbert A. Ralston

A lonely boy befriends Ben, the rat leader of the swarm of rats trained by Willard Stiles from the original film Willard. Ben become the boy's best friend, protecting him from bullying and keeping his spirits up in the face of a heart condition. However, things gradually take a downward turn as Ben's swarm becomes violent, resulting in several deaths.

Willard has been picked on and pushed around his whole life and is a twentysomething man who still lives at home with his nagging mother. He works at a shipping company for a stern, authoritarian supervisor. When Willard becomes fascinated with a hidden nest of rats living in his decrepit home, they become both his friends and his aggressors. He sics them upon anyone who crosses his path. But one rat, Ben, isn't so amenable to Willard's orders, and...