a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Ben is, apparently, the sequel to Daniel Mann's Willard, from the previous year.It picks up where the previous story left of.With a young boy, named Daniel- stricken to his home from illness- having befriended Ben, the leader of the pack of rats- trained by Willard Stiles in the previous film.The rats are running havoc through town- having already killed 3 people.And the police and city workers are having no luck tracking the pests down...they are just too intelligent.Seems they have taken to the sewers, to get around the city more efficiently.So the authorities pull out all the stops...flamethrowers and all...to rid the city of this menace, once and for all.Unless Daniel has any say in the matter, that is...While among the better films that qualify for the animal attack canon. It's still only moderately entertaining. And is probably most notable for it's theme song. Sung by Daniel (J. Lee Montgomery) in the film. But recorded by Michael Jackson for the credits- and released on his album of the same name the same year- for which it received a Golden Globe and Academy Awards Nomination.The acting from the kid was pretty good though...and it really makes you wonder where the hell they got all those rats from?! Cause there are loads!!! Worth a watch if you are into rats...or hate them and like to be scared...otherwise, it's passable.5 out of 10.

Screenwriter Gilbert Ralston concocted this sequel to the previous years' big money maker "Willard" in a logical enough way. Since the only main character who survived that film was the rat Ben, Ralston fashioned a story around him. As a detective named Kirtland (Joseph Campanella) investigates the death of Willard Stiles, rat armies are mobilized around the city, laying waste to businesses and terrorizing hapless humans. Ben makes his way to the home of Danny (Lee Montgomery), a young boy with a bad heart. The two become best of friends, and Danny vows to protect his new rodent pal, no matter what he has to do or what lies he has to tell.This quickly knocked out sequel (by cult director Phil Karlson of "Kansas City Confidential" and "Walking Tall" fame) is not in the same league as its predecessor, which isn't unexpected. In fact, it's a positively goofy, silly movie, with a fairly bad script by Ralston (unless it's meant to be seen as tongue in cheek; it's hard to tell). There's some cruddy dialogue, and "Ben" also becomes a painful exercise in preciousness and cuteness when we see what kinds of things the "talented" Danny does to amuse himself. Still, it can't help but be touching on occasion, as the lonely Danny declares Ben to be the only real friend he has.There's quite a bit of decent rodent action in this flick, with the little furry animals claiming a couple of human victims. There's a show stopping sequence in a supermarket, and a pleasingly intense finale in the sewers.Young Montgomery is appealing in his introductory role. Rosemary Murphy ("You'll Like My Mother") and future 'Family Ties' mom Meredith Baxter are fine as his mom and sister. (Baxter and Montgomery deserve some credit for doing those sewer scenes; Montgomery also has a lot of nerve in being willing to give a rat a kiss.) Most of the supporting cast has precious little to do, but it's full of familiar faces: Arthur O'Connell as a reporter, Kaz Garas as Kirtlands' partner, Paul Carr and Norman Alden as cops, Kenneth Tobey as a city engineer, and James Luisi as a city worker.The haunting, lovely theme song sung by a very young Michael Jackson is obviously the most memorable thing about the whole production.Fairly entertaining animal attack horror from the old days of using actual animals and not digital critters.Six out of 10.

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.

This is one of those films that you hear about for years but never get the chance to see. I've been aching to see this for ages, but never came across it until recently. It's not a bad little piece of early '70s horror, really. Actually, I only have two major gripes: First, the kid. He made me want to feed him to the rats for the majority of the film. The strange marionette obsession, the circus-like songs he 'wrote', the annoying heavy breathing when he'd supposedly overexerted himself....the kid's weird and in a male-Shirley-Temple kind of way. He's creepier than Ben ever thought about being. But I suppose it was meant to make his outcast status believable, in which case it works beautifully. No other kid in their right mind would hang out with Danny! My second gripe is with the climax of the film. Frankly, it just runs on too bloody long. Seems like watching the same scene over and over for twenty minutes, which is monotonous. Aside from these two small quibbles, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed 'Ben'. I've never had a horror villain make me cry before, but Ben not only had me all weepy at the end but I was rooting for him pretty much the whole movie. He's just so darn cute!