Ben

"Where 'WILLARD' ended... Ben begins. And this time, he's not alone!"

1972 1h 34m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 145

HorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A lonely boy becomes good friends with Ben, a rat. This rat is also the leader of a pack of vicious killer rats, killing lots of people.

“Where 'WILLARD' ended... Ben begins. And this time, he's not alone!”

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Cast

Lee Montgomery
Danny
Joseph Campanella
Cliff Kirtland
Arthur O'Connell
Bill Hatfield
Rosemary Murphy
Beth Garrison
Meredith Baxter
Eve Garrison
Kaz Garas
Joe Greer
Paul Carr
Kelly
Richard Van Vleet
Reade

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Phil Karlson
Writers: Gilbert Ralston
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

54 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Willard Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Phil Karlson, shot by Russell Metty. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Walter Scharf. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Harry Gerstad shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Lee Montgomery and Joseph Campanella and Arthur O'Connell carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Where 'WILLARD' ended... Ben begins. And this time, he's not alone!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0068264 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Phil Karlson directs. Russell Metty behind the camera. Walter Scharf scores. Harry Gerstad cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

154 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Part of the "Willard Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Phil Karlson, shot by Russell Metty. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Walter Scharf. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Harry Gerstad shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Lee Montgomery and Joseph Campanella and Arthur O'Connell carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Where 'WILLARD' ended... Ben begins. And this time, he's not alone!".
8IMDB entry: tt0068264 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "animal attack", "sequel", "death", "sewer".

The technical file

Cinematography: Russell Metty
Original score: Walter Scharf
Editing: Harry Gerstad
Costume design: Ray Harp
Makeup / hair: Hazel Washington
Runtime: 94 min · 1h 34m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Ben (1972)

Part of

Willard Collection

This collection delves into narratives centered on rats, showcasing themes of loneliness, social isolation, and revenge. One film highlights a lonely boy befriending a remarkable rat, leading to a series of tragic events. Another film follows a social misfit who, tormented by co-workers, turns to his pet rats for comfort and revenge. These films explore the complexities of human-animal relationships and the dark side of human behavior through captivating storylines.

Also by

Phil Karlson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-03-22
★ 6/10
I suppose if you are going to make an horror movie, then it’s hard to beat rats as the culprits. The young, imaginative, “Danny” (Lee Montgomery) is a bit of a gentle loner who makes friends with a rat he names “Ben”. He tells his sister all about his new friend, but “Eve” (Meredith Baxter) just assumes he is making him up. Then some odd things start to happen in their neighbourhood, and rumours start to abound that there is a swarm of rats marauding around attacking people. When a grocery store is trashed by these vandalising critters, the police step in and “Kirkland” (Joseph Campanella) has to try and make sense of events that simply don’t add up. The more he looks for the beasts the less he finds, and when one of the lads that bullies “Lee” is reputedly attacked, even that doesn’t shed any light on things. Despite repeated and exhaustive searches of the subterranean pipes, sewers and drains, there is nothing! How are the authorities going to get to the bottom of things? The acting and the dialogue are all pretty mundane, true, but the sights of rats clambering and crawling everywhere, and the idea that there could be one more intelligent co-ordinating their behaviour is a genuinely quite spooky one. Like an army of ants only bigger, hairier, and with bigger teeth! It rather runs out of steam towards the end, but for a while the busy photography and the tension from the score create quite an unsettling atmosphere that might make you check under the bed and lock the windows before you go to sleep at night. The Michael Jackson title song got an Oscar nomination, it was made by Bing Crosby Productions and it’s not as bad as I’d initially feared.

Production companies