R Lee S | 08 Sep 2015 8:13 a.m. PST |
Recently I acquired around 500 VHS tapes for $2.00 USD at a local auction house. apparently no one wanted them and they were bound for the dumpster. I figured might be something interesting to watch. truth is it was like a mini jackpot. most of the films where on the obscure to rare side of the spectrum and in rather good condition. Around 50 of them were worth something on Amazon and I'll be listing them shortly. Anyway a few of them looks interesting so I decided to watch a one or two. one was the 1972 movie "Ben". link It's very dated, and to be honest bad but bad in a fun way. the last 20 minutes or so has what seems like the entire police and fire departments down in the sewers in teams of 5-6 men armed with shot guns and flamethrowers, I suppose flamethrowers where standard police issue back in 1972. anyway it showed them pushing back the rat hoards and the rats pushing back and wiping out a few teams under the direction of the lead smart rat Ben. and I though this might make a good miniature game. very Space hulk or zombie like. build a sewer system and place several modern fire men and police men teams against base after base of rats. Anyone every try this before? |
jpattern2 | 08 Sep 2015 9:08 a.m. PST |
I saw Ben in the theater when it came out. I still remember my favorite line, "You know . . . if they were four feet tall, we'd lose." Hah! That could be an interesting take on a typical multi-player zombie game. Players could cooperate to destroy all the rats. The rats could be controlled by the referee, or, once activated, keep attacking the nearest humans until one or the other is wiped out. I prefer the referee, because the rats were directed by Ben, so there should be some intelligence in their attack. Roll at the beginning for the total number of rat bases, and don't reveal it to the human player. "They just keep coming!" Lots of hidden movement, secret entrances, ambushes – could be a really fun, suspenseful game. |
Who asked this joker | 08 Sep 2015 9:18 a.m. PST |
So Willard was the prequel to this film? Or rather, this is the sequel to Willard? Wow… |
War Monkey | 08 Sep 2015 9:22 a.m. PST |
Saw "Ben" along time ago thought it was a great movie way back then! Agree with Jpattern2, lots of hidden movement rats being small creatures they could move rather fast through small openings in the walls, could cut off teams with a 2 phase attack from front and behind! Rats would have a special movement for moving through walls Use a referee for the rats great involvement for all. You could use other creature instead of rats as well, large spiders, bugs, etc. I also saw "Willard" as well! |
hocklermp5 | 08 Sep 2015 9:54 a.m. PST |
My VHS tapes from 25 to 30 years ago have deteriorated as far as picture quality goes. Mentioned it to my daughter and she said VHS tapes go downhill fast after 20 years until they eventually give up the ghost. It is remarkable that tapes as old as the ones you bought are in good shape. Some of mine have only been viewed a few times so I was shocked to see how hard time had been on them. They have been stored in the cabinet beneath the TV. There was a movie in that time period that opens with a baby being born. Suddenly the doctors and nurses fall back in horror and are slaughtered by the newborn! Said baby monster crawls forth and ends up in the sewers being hunted and bloodily defending itself along the way. I could be wrong but I think the title was, "It's Alive!" I still cannot make up my mind whether or not it was the silliest thing I wasted time on or something more. The man leading the hunt pities the vicious little tyke and listening to a baby crying in the sewers while being hunted down certainly gets to you after awhile. |
Cyrus the Great | 08 Sep 2015 10:36 a.m. PST |
I still have my "autographed" picture of Ben! |
mwindsorfw | 08 Sep 2015 11:26 a.m. PST |
I was 10 when it came out, we snuck into the local theater to see it with some older kids, and it scared the crap out of me. There are some things I just don't want to game. |
haywire | 08 Sep 2015 11:43 a.m. PST |
I was thinking of something similar using WHFB Skaven and rats led by… Weng Chiang and maybe some Chinese gangsters against Dr. Who and a bunch of Victorian Era coppers. |
jpattern2 | 08 Sep 2015 11:46 a.m. PST |
Ben (1972) is the sequel to Willard (1971). FWIW, the 2003 remake of Willard isn't as much fun as the original. mwindsorfw, my friends and I saw Night of the Living Dead at a Saturday matinee in 1968. Scared the bejeezus out of us – so we convinced our parents to take us again the next Saturday. After that, the newspapers were full of outrage over the fact that this gruesome movie was being shown to impressionable kids, and that was the end of that. But I love zombie games. |
BlackWidowPilot | 08 Sep 2015 3:06 p.m. PST |
Ah, the memories! Creature Feature on Saturday nights hosted by Bob Wilkins:
Willard, then Ben, plus just about every B-, C-, and D-budget sci-fi or horror flick imaginable including The Milpitas Monster:
Ah, what an idyllic childhood I had… and people wonder why I'm so unhinged…. Mwahahahahaaaaaaa!!! Leland R. Erickson Metal Express metal-expres.net
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War Monkey | 08 Sep 2015 3:36 p.m. PST |
Oh the days of long gone by of Friday Night Fright Nights. |
PaulCollins | 08 Sep 2015 4:41 p.m. PST |
Ditto, I think "Ben" by Michael Jackson was in fact the theme from one of those movies. Oddly, I thought it was from Willard, but I'm probably mistaken. |
PaulCollins | 08 Sep 2015 4:44 p.m. PST |
It was from Ben, and it was written for Donny Osmond, but he was on tour so it was recorded by Michael Jackson. It actually spent a week at #1 on the Billboards. |
R Lee S | 08 Sep 2015 6:34 p.m. PST |
They play the song "Ben" over the end credits. I swear I though a girl was signing it, but after looking it up on line it was in fact a young Michael Jackson. @ hocklermp5 Yes VHS deteriorate over time but this copy was pretty good. it must be close to 30 years old. |
surdu2005 | 09 Sep 2015 5:25 a.m. PST |
Building a good sewer system without taking out a mortgage is a challenge. |
Old Wolfman | 10 Sep 2015 7:05 a.m. PST |
And Jacko actually had a pet rat near that time. |
tkdguy | 10 Sep 2015 2:23 p.m. PST |
Another story you can use is Stephen King's Graveyard Shift. link I remember listening to that song when I was a kid. I hadn't seen the movie, as my parents wouldn't let me watch horror films. I thought Ben was a dog because my cousins had a dog they named Ben. |
Coelacanth1938 | 11 Sep 2015 2:42 a.m. PST |
I have the Willard book somewhere. Good read. |
jpattern2 | 11 Sep 2015 6:02 a.m. PST |
Same here, Coelacanth. Original title: Ratman's Noteboooks. |