Night of the Lepus

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!

For all those film critics who claim that Hollywood is scared to try new ideas, here's proof that Hollywood will try anything. After making monster movies which feature every imaginable kind of vermon and pest, Hollywood got desperate and made one about monster rabbits.

(Monster RABBITS?)

That's right, the word "lepus" means rabbit. The story concerns a group of scientist who try to solve a rabbit over-population problem in the Midwest by injecting the bunnies with a hormone intended to decrease their breeding abilities. Instead, the hormone increases the rabbits' growth rate until they weight 150 pounds, stand four feet tall, and roar.

(ROARING rabbits?)

Right! That's part of what makes them MONSTER rabbits. The special effects involve a combination of real rabbits on miniature sets and actors in monster rabbit suits.

(Monster rabbit SUITS!?)

The National Guard is called in to battle this menace to mankind.

(The National Guard battles BIG BUNNIES!!?)

Yes, indeed. Producer A. C. Lyles and director William F. Claxton knew full-well that a distinguished cast was needed to lend credibility to this bold and risky venture, so they hired Stuart Whitman ("City Beneath the Sea"), Janet Leigh ("Psycho"), Deforest Kelly ("Star Trek"), Rory Calhoun ("The Texan"), and Paul Fix (numerous westerns).

These fine stars did their best, but alas it wasn't enough, and "Night of the Lepus" is considered a failed experiment. What the film needed was Morris Ankrum as an army general who uttered lines such as,

"Good Lord, if we don't stop these monsters, there won't be a single carrot left on the planet!"

Now that I would love to see.

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.

Campy, hokey, and oh so hilarious B movie is an unforgettable tale of nature on the rampage.

In rural New Mexico folks trying to eliminate the rabbit population create a race of huge, killer rabbits that terrorize mankind!

Night of the Lepus is one of those golden B flicks that must be seen to be believe. It's wonderfully tongue-in-cheek in its premise, and builds up some good moments of spookiness despite of its silliness. For a film of its budget, this movie manages to have some pretty decent special FX, it certainly beats the likes of Food of the Gods (1976) or Empire of the Ants (1977).

The veteran cast is OK in their performances. The late-great Janet Leigh, Rory Calhoun, and Stuard Whitman are the best of the cast. The music score is bland, but in a nicely moody way.

Night of the Lepus is a classic film not to be missed by fans of the B horror genre.

** 1/2 out of ****

OK, I've read several of the reviews/comments for this film and I must stand and be counted as one of the fans of this low-budget film. Sure, the story may be ludicrous and the effects may be bad, but face it, this film doesn't deserve all the bad publicity it always receives. It's got a nice cast and they all seem to be genuine in their efforts to make this film a success, but it does fall short of it's target in several aspects. I'd say the one constant in this film that bothers me the most is the young girl, the daughter of Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh, I'd have gladly fed her to these rabbits in the first 20 minutes or so, but beyond that, I really don't see all the fuss about how horrible of a film this is. It's definitely an original idea for a horror film and if you ever have the opportunity to view the unedited version, there is a scene or two that's nice and bloody, but it isn't a gore-hound's delight and it won't ever sit high among the classics of horror, but I miss the fact that this used to be a staple on late-night TV when I was a kid and you can't see it at all, these days. For those of you with a curious nature, I'd recommend viewing this film at least once, just so you can be counted among film fans that have watched this killer bunny film...trust me, it won't hurt at all!