EDITOR’S NOTE: Ben was on the CBS Late Movie on February 21, 1975 and March 11, 1977.
I knew the Michael Jackson song “Ben” a hell of a lot better than Ben the movie, but now, I’ve crossed over into the sewer, and I know both.
If you remember Willard—and who could forget?—Willard Stiles got completely overwhelmed and ripped to shreds by Ben and his army of furious rodents when he tried to turn on them. Well, dust off your cheese wedge, because this sequel picks up right where that massacre left off. We immediately follow Ben as he goes on the lam, eventually crossing paths with Danny Garrison (Lee Harcourt Montgomery, pulling double duty for genre fans after Burnt Offerings).
Danny is a lonely, chronically ill kid with a serious heart condition. Before Ben shows up, Danny’s world is pretty small: just his overprotective mother, Beth (Rosemary Murphy) and his sister, Eve (Meredith Baxter, long before she was battling family ties).
Naturally, instead of screaming and calling an exterminator, Danny decides that a massive, fugitive killer rat is the ultimate BFF. Danny does fun stuff for his new furry master, like writing catchy little theme songs, putting on elaborate marionette shows for their amusement, and even building a miniature, fully functioning train ride specifically for Ben to commute on. Of course, rats will be rats. While they aren’t hanging out with Danny, Ben and his horde go completely off the rails, attacking food trucks, tearing up grocery stores, and terrorizing locals.
All the while, the rat army helps Danny deal with the typical childhood hurdles: bullies, crushing loneliness and the grim reality of probably dying young. It’s a heartwarming coming-of-age story, provided your idea of a coming-of-age story involves thousands of disease-carrying rodents occupying an abandoned metro station.
Directed by Phil Karlson (The Wrecking Crew, Walking Tall) and written by Gilbert Ralston (the mastermind behind The Wild, Wild West), this movie pulls off a magic trick. It has an ending where you will legitimately care about a rat way more than you ever thought was biologically possible. Seriously, I got weepy over a rat. A rat that actually got to ride in a custom train, dammit—and now I’m crying again.
