his mother and the police. The police tell Danny they want to see Ben, so Danny brings them to the workshed and throws at them a marionette he made that looks like Ben. The police, with the bully and the bully's mother, leave the workshed. However, things gradually take a downhill turn as Ben's colony becomes violent in its search for food, resulting in several deaths. Eventually, the police go into the sewers and kill the rats with flamethrowers and shotguns after trapping them there, but Ben somehow survives the slaughter and makes his way back to Danny, wounded but alive. A tearful and overjoyed Danny tends to the injured Ben, determined not to lose his best friend. Cast Lee Harcourt Montgomery as Danny Garrison Joseph Campanella as Cliff Kirtland Arthur O'Connell as Billy Hatfield Rosemary Murphy as Beth Garrison Meredith Baxter as Eve Garrison Kaz Garas as Joe Greer Paul Carr as Kelly Richard van Vleet as Reade Kenneth Tobey as engineer James Luisi as Ed Lee Paul as Carey Norman Alden as policeman Scott Garrett as Henry Gray Arlen Stuart as Mrs. Gray Ric Drasin as George Bruce Davison as Willard Stiles (archive footage) Ben Crowe as himself St. Benjamin as the baller Music Theme song The film's theme song "Ben" is performed by Lee Montgomery in the film and by Michael Jackson during the final scene and end credits. Jackson's recording of the song became a number 1 pop hit single. Later included as the title track on Jackson's second solo album, Ben, it won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song (it lost to "The Morning After" by Maureen McGovern from another 1972 film, The Poseidon Adventure). The song is calm and mellow, which contrasts with the horror content of the film. A live recorded version was released on the album The Jacksons Live! (1981) and eventually appeared on Michael Jackson's album Number Ones (2003). Crispin Glover recorded a version of the song for the soundtrack of the 2003 remake of Willard. A music video for this version was produced, which also featured Glover. Reception Ben received mixed reviews from critics. It holds a rating of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 10 reviews. Among the more positive reviews was that of Variety, which wrote that the film has the "same type of suspenseful