Ben (1972)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

How sad is this?

Excellent but underrated film

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

In 1971, WILLARD had been a surprise box office hit about a twisted young man and his morbid obsession with harboring an army of rats to do his bidding. So along comes this lukewarm sequel that fails on just about every count.Starting out promisingly right from the final scene of the first film, a cop and news reporters investigate the grim attic of Willard Stiles, where his dead body lies. Through the finding of Willard's personal diary (a nice plot touch) they discover how he trained a squadron of rats (headed by king rodent "Ben") to kill for him.From there it's all downhill as we switch over to Danny (Lee Montgomery), a sweet lonely child with a heart condition. He's due for another operation that may even kill him. He lives with his mother and an older sister, Eve (a young Meredith Baxter, pre-FAMILY TIES). A chance encounter with Ben the Rat brings Danny his only true friend, and he entertains his squealing furry buddy with sing-alongs, puppet shows, and toy train rides. Danny even composes a song of tribute to Ben, his friend to the end. At the same time, Ben's nose-twitching comrades are festering around the city, scaring people and trashing whole supermarkets as they scavenge for food. Danny is able to actually converse back and forth with Ben and understand squeak-talk, so he tries to impress upon him that he and his rodent friends can't just do whatever they want, because people don't like that. The police are positively baffled as to how to locate and destroy the rats.Playing more like a wholesome Walt Disney family flick (in fact, lead child actor Lee Montgomery DID previously star in Disney's THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK), this is a dull and saccharine affair with every other cardboard adult character being more uninteresting than the next. The best thing going for this is the likably pleasant hit song featured at the end, and recorded by Michael Jackson - it even won a Golden Globe and was nominated as "Best Original Song" at the Academy Awards! The movie, however, earns a Turkey.*1/2 out of ****

Intended to be something of a "Rodent-On-A-Rampage" Thriller - Unfortunately, Ben turned out to be just too saccharine-sweet for its own good.This early-1970s revenge story about a boy (Danny) and his dog... (oops!)... I mean, his rat (Ben), was just too cute and too Disney-like to pack a substantial enough wallop to appeal in any way to an audience over the age of 15 years.Set in Los Angeles - 8-year-old Danny Garrison is a kid with a heart condition who, often enough, finds himself a victim to the tough clique of bullies who hang out in his neighbourhood.Alone & frightened, Danny soon finds some true friendship with a rogue rat named Ben.As a means of communicating with Danny, Ben often squeaks away in various octaves. Sounding very much like a rubber ducky, Danny does not seem to have any trouble understanding Ben's bizarre form of lingo.Anyways - When it comes to the likes of thrills & chills - Ben's the sort of "ho-hum" type of movie that certainly promises the viewer plenty, but inevitably delivers next to nothing.This film did its best to cash in on the fact that its title song was, indeed, written & sung by the 14-year-old Michael Jackson who, at the time, was budding into quite a dynamic, little pop star.

The original Willard was a great film in itself, but this film is even better in my opinion. This is more than just your typical horror film about killer rats, it is a touching story about friendship. The main character of the film, a boy with heart problems named Danny (brilliantly portrayed by Lee Montgomery who is one of my favorite actors) befriends Ben, the leader of the group of killer rats from the first movie. The police try to have Ben and all the rest of the rats killed. The main reason this film resonated with me is because I can identify with Danny. I know what it's like to be lonely and feel like you have no one you can depend on. I also know what it's like to have an animal as a companion because most of the time I feel more comfortable around animals than I do around people. And as I mentioned before, Lee Montgomery is one of my favorite actors. So all of these factors combined made the character of Danny likable to me and easy to relate to. Many people who dislike the film complain that the rats are "supposed to be evil" and not friendly. I would disagree with that statement. Willard had the same type of companionship with the rats to start with. It was only when Willard turned on them and decided he wanted them dead that they wanted him dealt with. But Danny never stopped being loyal to the rats. They truly cared about one another so the rats had no reason to try to kill him. The ending of the movie brings a tear to my eye every time. You can see just how much Danny and Ben truly care about one another and how special their friendship really is. Michael Jackson's beautiful song makes the ending that much more effective.The acting in this film was truly remarkable. Lee Montgomery's performance was great. He used just the right amount of emotion and made his character likable. Besides his performance, Meredith Baxter, who played Eve, was also great. She was totally convincing as a protective sister. In fact, if you weren't aware the film was fictional, you could swear Danny and Eve really were brother and sister. Meredith Baxter played her role in such a way that it seemed as though she genuinely cared about her brother's well being. The story is unique and wonderfully written. However, it is quite different from it's predecessor. While Willard had a slight touch of dark humor, it was far more serious than this film for the most part. Although this film does have death scenes, it is a slightly more lighthearted than Willard so both adults and children can enjoy it.

Michael Jackson's title theme is a moving ode and that it applies to a deadly pet rat makes for an odd, if memorable association in this sequel to the hugely successful "Willard" the year before. Youth Lee H.Montgomery is the new "Willard", essentially imprisoned in his parent's home by a rare medical condition, finding a quirky friendship in a stray rat (Ben) who is capable of marshaling the local rat population into war against mankind.Joseph Campanella is the no-nonsense police detective, while Meredith Baxter (pre David Birney) plays Lee's older sister. There are a number of familiar faces in the supporting cast (e.g. Paul Carr, Kaz Garas, Ken Tobey etc) and the film's rousing conclusion in the city's sewers with the main antagonist cornered, is a tense climax.The hyperbole written about this film relegating it to turkey status is unwarranted; while not as textured as its predecessor, it's much like the AIP genre films of the early-to-mid seventies in atmosphere and personnel and should entertain accordingly.