Rabbits

This is a true classic. It has such an absurd plot that you couldn't ever think of taking it remotely seriously.

Basically killer mutant rabbits go on the rampage. Or rather, harmless rabbits are photographed with miniatures or have their images enlarged and superimposed to look menacing.

And do they look menacing? Well.....no, not at all. They just look like a bunch of Watership Down wannabees out on a stroll.

What was DeForest Kelley thinking when he signed up to this. Or Janet Leigh for that matter. Just how did they get persuaded to star in this?

It's a classic. Watch it if you like really BAD films.

A jaw-droppingly stupid idea (giant carnivorous bunny rabbits on a rampage) makes for a surprisingly fun, entertaining movie. The effects are reasonably convincing, it's briskly paced, with a blast of an ending. It's all played perfectly straight, and good for many a giggle.

Dumb? You bet. Fun? Abso-wootwy (as Elmer Fudd would say). Plus it stars DeForest Kelly. Bad film buffs will adore it!

A mutant bunny is "saved" by a scientist's daughter and released into a hotbed of hare activity where it breeds and helps genetically alter the growth rate of rabbits in this western desert town. Soon, living in huge mining shafts are these monstrous rabbits with fangs out to rip, shred, cut, slice, maim, hew, and devour any living thing in their wake. This is the stark, gritty horror that is Night of the Lepus. Yeah right! Night of the Lepus has to be one of the most ridiculously inspired films I've seen in some time. Did a bunch of people actually sit down and think that bunnies would be frightening? To give credit where it is due, some of the rabbits(seen through some process that magnifies actual rabbits with blood-like red smeared on their noses and whiskers) actually look ... quite ridiculous. With those kind of special effects, you know what you are getting. Some scenes are just so humorous because of their poor production values. Seeing a handful of rabbits stuffed into a miniature hotel or watching the National Guard battle those rascally rabbits being just such two scenes. The cast has some big names with Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh playing the scientist couple and Rory Calhoun as the farmer in need of ridding his pastures from rabbits, and then there is Deforrest Kelly, looking quite out of place, as a friend to all. Watchin Deforrest lay down TNT to blow up rabbit holes is a real hoot. The acting though can't save this film from anything more than what it is: a funny bad picture that is fun to watch because of its ridiculous premise, lamentable special effects, and some corny acting and dialog. C'mmon! Rabbits! What's next? Revenge of the Hamsters. Gerbil Apocalypse. The Guniea Pig Massacre. Ludicrous stuff here but fun nonetheless.

Well, happy Easter horror lovers, and what could be a better holiday film for us to eat our chocolate bunnies with than "Night of the Lepus." I watched an obviously cut version of this on TV as a kid in the 70's, but get the DVD, and you can put little Suzie off cuddly rabbits forever!!

Ah yes, another nature goes crazy film from the 70's. It seems as though we had a lot of those back in the day. Day of the Animals, Food of the Gods, Empire of the Ants, just to name a few. And of course this one. As funny of a premise as this sounds, the movie was actually based on a book. We have the plot of a rancher (Rory Calhoun; Motel Hell) having problems with an overpopulation of rabbits ruining his fields for the cattle. A Zoologist (DeForest Kelley; Star Trek) has helped the rancher before, removing coyotes from his land, thus the reason for the rabbit population. He has an idea though, to get his friend and his wife, lab specialists (Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh), to do some lab experiments on the rabbits to see if they can lower the population by natural means and not chemical ones.

Through a mix up in the rabbit cages and one of the bunnies getting loose, we have a far bigger problem, literally. Giant rabbits!! Hundreds of them, and it seems as though they are on a rampage at night only, holing up in different places during the day. The characters of the film have to band together with volunteers and the national guard to have a final showdown. Does the plan work? Spend this afternoon gnawing on your chocolate Easter bunnies to find out!

Now, the premise of this movie has always seemed a silly one, but this is a good little scare flick with a very strong cast. The only problem I've ever had with the film is its special effects. I know it was the 70's, and they had to do miniatures and such. But you see the same special effects shot three or four times during the film. And as a movie that asks you to suspend your disbelief in a huge way, this can easily take you out of the moment to wonder why they couldn't get more SF shot produced for a major studio film.

This type of film has an unusually strong cast, and that's exactly what it needed to keep this film from becoming laughable. Every one of them plays their part seriously and the story moves along at a good speed because of this. There is a lot of action in the movie and you know that everyone involved must have had a great time working on it.

Should you add this DVD to your collection? Well, if you've only ever seen the cut up prints on television, then yes you should. It's still only rated PG (It would get a PG-13 if released today I believe). But there is more blood and bunny death in the DVD version. Its a pretty bare bones release, with only the trailer for an extra. But the film can be found in bargain bins, or at a bargain price, so pick it up for an Easter holiday horror film to be enjoyed by all!

NIGHT OF THE LEPUS is one of those movies that you simply have to see to believe. I am very glad that LEPUS has finally been officially released on DVD because for years, I have described it to fellow B-movie fans who have then accused me of making it up. Besides, I am now finally able to replace my bootleg DVD (recorded from foreign TV with Swedish or Norwegian subtitles, I'm not sure which, running across the bottom of the screen) and enjoy this masterpiece the way it was meant to be seen.

In brief: Somewhere in the American Southwest, ranchers are losing their crops to hungry herds of Jackrabbits. A scientist, attempting to figure out a way to slow the reproduction rate of the rabbits, injects an experimental hormone into some test animals. One of the test rabbits escapes and begins mating with the local bunnies, resulting in a horde of giant killer mutant rabbits with a taste for human flesh. You CAN'T make this stuff up, kids! From there it's long-eared, low budget mayhem of the highest order, with scenes of regular-sized bunnies rampaging through miniature Western towns (complete with dubbed-in squeals and roars on the soundtrack) and hungry bunnies (played by stuntmen in full body rabbit suits) attacking unlucky townspeople, until the military is called in to neutralize the threat. Anyone who makes it more than fifteen minutes into this movie without cracking up is a better person than I am. You can almost imagine Janet Leigh during filming, smoking cigarettes in between takes and asking DeForest Kelley "What the hell are we doing in a movie about KILLER RABBITS? I worked with Alfred Hitchcock for cryin' out loud! I am going to KILL my agent!" I had pet rabbits growing up and never found them scary in the slightest. Maybe that's why I love this movie so much. To this day, I wonder if the studio person who green-lighted this project and allowed it to be made still had a job when his superiors saw the final product. Do yourself a favor and check out NIGHT OF THE LEPUS, an unjustly forgotten slice of early 70s drive-in cheese. You may love it, you may hate it, but I promise you, you will NEVER forget it!