JoeKarlosi 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 ****

Dalbert Pringle 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.

BaronBl00d 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.

MartinHafer 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.