Posters and trailers for the movie did not feature any rabbits. Marketers feared that audiences would not take the movie seriously if they found out about the giant killer rabbits too quickly.
Among the many problems the "rabbit wranglers" faced, rabbits are naturally docile creatures, though they will bite humans if annoyed. Their two favorite pastimes are nibbling on vegetables and mating. The film started with 24 rabbits, which ballooned to nearly 100 by the time the "stampede" sequences were filmed.
Janet Leigh refused to allow her two teenage daughters, Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis, to appear in the movie in minor roles; she did not want them to be part of, or see, a horror film. Ironically, Jamie Lee later broke out as a "scream queen."
In an interview with film historian Tom Weaver, Janet Leigh said she took the starring role because it was shot near her home, and meant less time away from her family. She also said, "I've forgotten as much as I could about that picture."
In the scenes where the rabbits are ferociously "roaring," they are actually just yawning.