User Reviews

This sequel to the rat-themed psychological horror flick WILLARD - which I've not seen, although I liked the remake with Crispin Glover - begins with a recap or reimagining of the end of that movie and ends with a song by a youthful Michael Jackson. In the middle, we get a rather sad and sentimental story about a lonely, friendless and often bullied boy called Danny, who takes solace in the marionettes he keeps in the garage and soon befriends a hyper-intelligent rat called Ben. Meanwhile, the authorities are systematically hunting and destroying a pack of deadly rats they believe to be in the neighbourhood. It's a real slow burner for the first hour or so, but then it picks up for a sewer-bound climax which offers plenty of action and fiery FX as the cops pull out the flamethrowers. The special effects are pretty decent here and this is the most convincing bit of 'rat action' I've seen put on screen, but the film as a whole is too understated to make much of an impact.

After all the much anticipated ballyhoo to track down this rather difficult film to find - I was glad I saw it...for now just the one time if you please. Willard, its predecessor, was one creepy, deliciously black film with a unique story and some performances. You know...from actors. Bruce Davison was really quite good in that lead. Then there was Elsa Lanchester and, of course, Ernest Borgnine hamming it up as the mean Mr. Martin. What do we get in Ben? Acting is not its strong suit for sure. The film begins with Willard's demise. Immediately after the police and all the neighbors gawk at - what? There is a dead guy in the attic...anyway...of those neighbors standing outside is a family of three...a mother, a daughter, and a son. They become important once poison becomes the prescribed means to rid the town of the rats. The rats head for the sewers but Ben(not the Ben from Willard that was mean and nasty - but a kinder Ben - yes, he still has people stripped of their flesh by his rat army - but this go round he befriends a small boy with a bad heart who owns and makes his own marionettes, races around a room playing a harmonica, crawls through the sewers with only a slight cough afterward, and, in my favorite scene demonstrating his ridiculousness, composes an Oscar-nominated song in the matter of two minutes or so. Now, in his scenes with the small boy we get "Gentle Ben." Okay, so I am being a bit sarcastic and this film deserves it for it really is not all that good. Lee Harcourt Montgomery plays the annoying youth in a most sickening fashion yet, by the film's end, I was a bit touched by the final scene between a boy and his rat. Back to the film. The rest of the actors of note are Joseph Campanella as a police detective having really little to do. Even less to do is Arthur O'Connell in a role as the city's apparent only newspaperman. He is incredibly wasted though has the film's best lines laced sporadically around either the "rat action" or Danny's interplay with his puppets or rat. The scenes where the rats either kill, attack, or destroy are pretty funny. Nothing was chilling at all. How about the rats at the fitness center? What a hoot! What about the rats in the supermarket? Or when they "attack" sewer workers? Let's be honest - this film does have heart. It really does not have much else going for it EXCEPT that aforementioned Oscar-nominated song...sung by Michael Jackson and coming in the film with possibly less then five minutes. Before that it is word-sung by Danny, quickly tooted out on a harmonica, and given bits here and there in the film's score. Meredith Baxter of Family Ties fame plays Danny's sister and has a somewhat meaty role.

In light of the fact that the 1971 film "Willard" was such a box office smash, bringing in almost $10 million (pretty big money in those days), I suppose it was practically inevitable that a sequel was soon put into production. And sure enough, in June '72, almost a year to the day after "Willard" had had its premiere, that sequel, "Ben," did indeed arrive. Featuring all new characters, with the exception of its titular rodent star, the film yet picks up mere moments after the conclusion of the first, and indeed, the sequel's opening credits are scrawled over the final moments of that first film, to remind viewers of where things had left off.

In that first film's conclusion, young oddball Willard Stiles (well played by Bruce Davison), after having killed his hateful boss with the assistance of his well-trained rat army, led by the almost supernaturally intelligent black rat Ben, had decided to do away with the hundreds of rodents living in his Los Angeles home, and a battle royale had ensued, in which Ben and his cohorts had done Willard to his death. As the sequel begins, cops and reporters swarm over the Stiles abode, trying to figure out what has happened, while gawky neighbors look on, aghast. One of those neighbors is the Garrison family, consisting of a single mother (played by Rosemary Murphy), her teenage daughter Eve (Meredith Baxter), and Danny (Lee Harcourt Montgomery), a young kid with a heart condition. Danny, like Willard, is something of a loner, but a talented one: He plays piano, writes songs, and is something of an amateur puppeteer. While Ben and his army terrorize the neighborhood--killing cops, causing traffic accidents, breaking into and trashing a supermarket, invading a candy factory and causing a near riot in a women's health spa--Danny befriends the intelligent superrodent. To the viewer's astonishment, Danny even kisses the furry critter, taking it to bed with him and telling it "You're the best friend I ever had." And sadly enough, I suppose that, for poor Danny, that statement is indeed true...especially when Ben instructs a few of his henchmen to assist Danny when he is being pushed around by a brattish bully. But real trouble looms when the authorities finally get wind of where Ben and his crew of thousands are holing up (and perhaps I should add here that the hundreds of rats in "Willard" seem to have enjoyed a dramatic population growth in this second film)--namely, in the catacombs of the sewer system--and another battle royale begins, as the cops and local engineers gear up with flamethrowers, high-powered rifles, water hoses and jackhammers to wipe out this pestilential scourge once and for all....

"Ben" maintains a light tone for the most part, and indeed, many of the film's rat attack scenes--especially the one in the health spa--are played largely for laughs. The picture only gets serious toward its final 20 minutes, when Eve chases Danny through that sewer system, while a truly ferocious battle swirls around them. I'm not sure if "no animals were harmed in the making of this picture," as many films proclaim (not this one, it should be noted), but if that IS indeed the case, some truly outstanding special effects were brought to the fore here, as it really does look as if hundreds of rodents are scampering before the onslaught of those flamethrowers while at the same time being roasted alive. What I cannot understand is the "Maltin Movie Guide"'s assertion that the film boasts "gory visuals"; while there are any number of scenes in which a person is covered with rodents here, I did not see a single drop of the red stuff once. Actually, this is a film that might make perfect fare for watching with your favorite 8-year-old, as Montgomery is as cute and appealing as can be. The song that he composes on the piano for his buddy, "Ben," is one that you may well recall as having been sung by Michael Jackson, heard here during the picture's end credits; the song was Oscar nominated, losing to "The Morning After" from "The Poseidon Adventure." As compared to the first film, the sequel is certainly a lesser affair, perhaps because it lacks the fine supporting contributions of Ernest Borgnine, Sondra Locke and Elsa Lanchester from that first outing. Still, here, the late Joseph Campanella (as the head cop on the case), Arthur O'Connell (as a wisecracking reporter) and Kenneth Tobey (as the No. 1 engineer) do get to add some welcome gravitas to the shenanigans. Surprisingly, director Phil Karlson, who had previously been responsible for such marvelous noir films as "Kansas City Confidential," "5 Against the House" and "The Phenix City Story," and who, in '73, would go on to helm the highly popular "Walking Tall," offers up some fairly pedestrian work here; "Ben" surely could have benefited from a bit more style and suspense. Still, the film, uh, squeaks by as a moderately acceptable entertainment. "You sure have a big family, Ben," Danny tells his buddy as he visits its home, deep in the L.A. sewer system, and I suppose that "Ben" the movie might be a good choice to watch with yours....

Following the surprise success of Willard, the same production company and screenwriter of before made a followup entitled Ben, named after the leader of Willard's rat army. It wasn't that big of a hit on its original release in the summer of '72, but it did manage to win audiences over time, especially with an Oscar nominated theme song. At first glance, one would almost ponder at how they could possibly continue off of the previous film, since it felt like one contained narrative. Looking back at the film now after nearly 50 years later, there is a lot to appreciate about it besides its affiliation in the horror genre.

Set shortly after Willard's end, Ben the rat ends up becoming the best friend of Danny Garrison, a lonely boy with a severe heart condition. However, Ben's colony becomes increasingly violent in search of food, causing the authorities to take Danny and his family into a lot of questioning regarding the black rat's whereabouts. Now having a movie solely centered around Ben would not actually work out well since focusing on a squeaking rat would get tiresome and even hard near impossible to film. Therefore, the actual main character is Danny, who as mentioned before, is a fairly lonely little boy who can't play a lot outside of his interests in puppetry due to his condition. Upon meeting Ben, the two make for a very sympathetic duo, with one being very sentimental towards the usually despised rat as a social outcast. Perhaps the single biggest connection between the two is the theme song named after Ben, written by lyricist Don Black and the film's composer Walter Scharf. This song works so well as a calmly somber tribute to friendship that it's no wonder Michael Jackson's rendition caught on so strongly.

As for the other characters, they act as conflicts to both Danny and Ben in various ways. Although Danny's mother Beth and sister Eve care deeply about him, they both contrast each other with the matriarch wanting what's supposedly best for his condition, and the other being more open minded albeit naive to her little brother's imagination. On the other hand, police detective Cliff Kirtland is so determined to get to the bottom of the killer rats that it causes a lot more protection of Ben from Danny than what would have otherwise been a cute friendship. It doesn't help either once the film plays up the suspense by introducing bullies or showing scenes of Ben's colony practically destroying everywhere and everything in sight as possible. The one area where the film does lose some momentum is ironically the climax where the police attack most of the rats with flamethrowers and other traps. It takes up so much time to the point where it makes the ending feel rushed, making it feel a bit too straightforward for what should have led to a commentary on how humanity perceives wild animals.

It's hard to say whether this film was made on a higher budget than Willard, mostly in regards to the higher level of detail. This film reportedly had way more rats behind the scenes than Willard (about 2,000), and the filmmakers made excellent usage of them whenever the scene calls for a stampede or massacre. Some additional training might have also been utilized in allowing some rats to crawl upon sewers and hovering house objects more than beforehand. Also, a lot of the effects work towards the end was either a general prop or handled with superimposing, a very impressive technical accomplishment of its day. While not quite as chilling as Alex North's score in Willard, Walter Scharf's music direction allows for a lot of emotional resonance through a much more quiet ambience, which then picks up once the film goes into an all out war on the rats. In a world where this social misfit kid has only one friend that everyone else wants dead, the music highlights the disconnect between Danny's peaceful life with the rats and the real world's lust for the rats dead to an uncomfortable degree.

Ben could perhaps be one of the most unusual horror films out there due to such a strange tonal shift between a lighthearted drama of a boy and his rat friend and a killer rat feasting frenzy upon the human population. Fortunately, it has just the right amount of heart and sympathy from the main cast and even Ben himself to make for a watchable followup to an already heartbreaking tale of a strange man. I'd recommend giving this a go after watching Willard, since it actually pays off as a continuation as opposed to a shameless cash grab sequel. Besides, with a new audience to call its own, the film will never be alone.

There are MANY reasons I hate this movie:

1. The original is an excellent film (though I'm sure no self-respecting movie reviewer thinks so). I HATE IT when sequels are that poor.

2. The sequel's whole focus is lost. Instead of the unstoppable army of rats from the original, it is a story of a little boy and his friend, Ben the Rat. Ben the Rat, if you will remember, was responsible for organizing a rat army to EAT Willard in the original--and NOW he's a cuddly pet?!

3. I don't particularly like most child actors, but this cretin is among the worst! To top it off, the annoying runt SINGS a love song (of sorts) to his buddy the rat! Singing a love song to a rat is WRONG on so many levels (and I think it's illegal in some states).

4. I wanted to see some people get eaten (particularly the talentless kid).

5. Michael Jackson sings the theme song. I don't like hearing a white lady sing very much, thank you. Of course, by the time you read this, Mr. (Ms.?) Jackson might no longer be a white lady but a rhino or even as aardvark thanks to modern plastic surgery.

This is the story of a lonely boy and his rat. I cried like a baby at the end when the Micheal Jackson version of this song started playing. Part of that could be due to the weird resonance having a young M.J. singing the song lends to this film. He was also a greatly misunderstood soul.

This really is an odd little story, Ben is not painted as evil, just needing to find a place for his humongous family. There are many humorous scenes in this, such as women in towels running out of a health spa from rats (why? the rats don't care that you're in a state of undress)! Seeing a young Meredith Baxter stumbling along and losing her glasses in a filthy sewer is fun too.

There is much inadvertent hilarity to be gained from watching this too, such as six foot tall grown men apparently succumbing to maybe six rats climbing on them and dying for no apparent reason.

Let's not forget the scene with the detective commenting on the whacked out truck driver "I've seen people like this before, up in (somewhere in the U.S. mid-west) after pulling dead bodies out of a mine". WTF! Not to mention a rat being able to both read and understand the word "pesticide" written on a cheery yellow box! There's also rats unscrewing air-vents and riding on toy trains!

"Ben" has some serious pacing issues. The mini-recap at the beginning of Ben over-seeing Willard's death, was OK, but it's nearly a half hour into the film when Ben and Danny become friends, and the time in-between is interminably long. Danny and Ben seem to have been friends for about two days when the former writes "Ben's song". Quite rushed! Most of the middle is fairly good, even though things like the puppet show and Danny composing Ben's song drag a bit. Then at the end it just seems to go on forever. The last twenty minutes of this film, which felt like an eternity, is a horrible affair of flame throwers and the squeals of countless rats! The rats are so cute, especially Ben, that is is truly a gut-wrenching thing to watch.

There are very nice portraits of relationships here, especially Danny and his family, and Danny and Ben, which made the characters seem real enough to get me emotionally invested. The story of their friendship is truly beautiful.

In closing, this is not a go-to horror movie. It's not exactly a horror movie, though it mostly is in tone, and it's not exactly a drama either. This is a good movie for when you don't feel like you have a true friend in the world. Even Ben got a friend who loved him enough to risk his life, though he was a monster to everyone else.