Night of the Lepus (1972)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Sadly Over-hyped

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Just given the title, I was never expecting this movie to be anything good, but godd*amn was it hard to sit through. Number one, and above all, the acting was horrendous. It tops Billy Owens in terms of badness. Just the fact that the only reaction to seeing a killer rabbit the size of a buffalo is mild shock. Not to mention that they thought they could bury RABBITS with dynamite, when in fact, the guy who went to the top of the mountain dropped a rock and it fell for six seconds -- meaning these things can dig a hole deeper than the height of the Sears Tower. So what in the hell would make them think that collapsing rabbit burrows would be effective in any way? I don't expect much of a horror movie, but I expect a bit of common sense exhibited by the bad, bad actors by which it was played. Oh, and the ending was beautiful. An electrified railroad. You know, because that would stop something that can easily clear it. Yet, somehow, it did, because even the creators of this film got sick of it at a point. There's not enough beer in the world.

While working in Southern Arizona, a group of scientists attempting to curtail the local rabbit population finds that a rabbit injected with a serum to curb their breeding cycle has turned those it has come into contact with into ravenous, gigantic rabbits devouring the countryside.This one here was pretty good and did have a lot going for it. One of the film's better parts is in the second half where the mystery about the unknown creatures doing the damage is rather nice and is done in the perfect manner. This one handles it by building up a stream of suspense sequences that only underscore how dangerous the threat is because it slowly dawns that there's something dangerous going on. These are highlighted by the early attacks on the population, and they are all done rather nicely and do their job of making the threat rather imposing and something to be taken advantage of. Once the rabbits get fully grown, there's a lot more fun to enjoy from this, as there's plenty of scenes to provide either action or suspense. The tunnel destruction plan where the rabbits are seen interacting with the cast as they discover who's really causing it with the chase through the tunnel, the farmland attack from their initial rampage on through to overrunning the house and the diner attack where the swarm overruns the town all provide plenty of suspense since there are various tactics within them to make them feel creepy and has some fun with the story. There's also the farm swarming scene in the middle that gets really action-packed and manages to feel really big and grand due to the size of the creatures and the size of the herd. That's what makes them good villains in a creature feature such as this since one creature bigger than a man is bad enough but to have a herd that large at the same size is simply terrifying and it works for the film. Alongside a rather clever and creative ending here which is just fun and some rather nice bloody deaths, these here are the film's best parts. There wasn't much in the way of flaws with this one. One of the flaws is that there's too ludicrous a situation causing them to get loose. It's obvious that the daughter will cause it, and rather than feeling sympathetic towards the situation but will instill more a feeling of rage and hatred for doing such a thing. They're not cute, and their actions just induce outright hatred for their stupidity. The gigantic rabbits at times do look really cheesy, especially when shown in a specific feature for a close-up. It's hard to take them seriously when they're in those poses as the over-sized fangs and cute face throw up a disorienting tactic that can be cause for some concern. The last flaw in this is the use of the real-life footage at the beginning to explain the film's back-story. Basing a film off a real-life incident can work, but the real footage goes against the later scenes and the effect it has is a little jolting, especially in such a weak-rated film. Otherwise, there isn't much here against this one.Rated PG: Violence, Language and mild animal violence.

Yep.... this sure is some goofy, rabbity, rubbish all right. But let's take a moment and reflect about the sights and sounds of this super-silly schlockfest from the 70's.Night of the Lepus is a ridiculously terrible movie in virtually every aspect, though on the other hand, it certainly does have what it takes to keep you entertained - but probably not in the way that it's creators intended. It's a well known fact that Disaster flicks were popular throughout the 70's, but this movie is among the worst of it's kind. The film stars Janet Leigh, Stuart Whitman and Rory Calhoun, it was released onto the world in 1972 and was produced at just under a million dollars. The Night of the Lepus is a movie based upon the impossibly stupid idea of giant-sized rabbits running amuck out in the deserts of the western United States, hordes of them, in the form of midnight stampedes, causing vast swathes of death and destruction wherever they roam.The film starts off with an infestation of, shall we say normal rabbits, but due to some scientific misadventures (and then later through the use of lots of laughably bad special effects) the rabbits grow to giant-sized proportions and once that's happened, this awful movie rapidly blossoms into an incredibly ridiculous action/comedy of sorts. But judging by the acting seen in this movie, it's my guess that it's creators weren't thinking of it as being such; but regardless of their true intent, this movie is fantastically stupid and ham-handed to an extreme and just wait till you see the movies TERRIBLE looking special effects.Let's dig a little deeper on the matter of Night of the Lepus's special effects, firstly it's numerous effect shots are the driving force behind, not just the giant rabbits, but the movie itself and they account for the vast majority of the films action. So in other words there's a lot to mention. As it should be obvious to anyone with more then three brain-cells, this film is a first-rate showcase of second-rate special effects; and to my way of thinking the effects are the best AND the worst part of the movie. But getting to the specifics of it, the giant rabbits are brought to life through a combination of overtly fake-looking rabbit puppets of varying sizes and to go one further it appears the crew used rabbit "mittens" in some of the close-up shots, that involve giant rabbits mauling human victims. Then we have the model work to speak of which appears in the form of one unconvincing miniature set after another, there must be at least a dozen such sets used in total, of which not a single one of them fools the eye, not for even a second. But by far the most often used of all these so-called special effects, has to be the liberal use of close-up/slow-motion footage of rabbits, which somehow the idiots behind this crappy movie apparently thought that showing rabbits, which are obviously of normal-size, in slow-motion would somehow impart a sense of gigantism to them and well.... just like all the other FX in this movie, that really didn't work too well. Then at the end we have the "electrifying" finale to speak of, which is truly a grand send-off to a terrible, terrible, movie. Is that burnt "hare" I smell? The best/funniest mistake seen in this exceptionally poorly-made movie involves a shot of one of it's many miniature sets, where a guy (who was probably an animal handler) is plainly visible in the background (who not surprisingly looks like a giant himself among all the so-called giant rabbits), is seen running away trying to get out of frame - in a vain attempt to avoid being in this downright awful movie.And for those who like to experience nostalgia through movies you are definitely in for a treat with Night of the Lepus. Seeing as how this movie dates back to the early 70's, Lepus comes loaded to the gills with all sorts of visuals from a bygone era. Which without fail tends to give this film a very dated appearance. If one were to keep a checklist you'd find that all the usual culprits such as music, cars, clothes, hair-styles, facial hair, are all here in great abundance. But best of all this movie has one of those big bulky "El Dorado" truckcampers from the 60's and 70's, which is prominently featured in several scenes throughout the movie. Hell it showcases the thing. And with that being said, I don't know about you, but speaking for myself, the mere sight of a truckcamper, especially one that size is always good for a laugh. Because lets be honest, a truckcamper isn't exactly the sexiest thing on four wheels, now is it.In the end what we have here with Night of the Lepus, is a production that's based upon the most ludicrously stupid of notions (i.e. giant rabbits) and then ham-handedly put together in the most unconvincing way imaginable. The end-result is a terrible as it is funny and it ultimately makes for a hilarious accidental comedy... of error's.

Weirdly enough, this is one of the most famous B-movies of all time, one that's gone down in history as the one about the giant rabbits! It's an odd subject matter for a film, that's for sure, but in all other respects, NIGHT OF THE LEPUS is a traditional 1970s monster flick, little different from the likes of KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS or many others churned out during this decade. Filmed out in Arizona, it boasts some nice, deserted locales, full of farmhouses and shacks that are about to get menaced by a rampaging horde of killer...bunnies! This is one of those films where a great cast has been assembled to get viewers watching. Stuart Whitman is the straight hero, early on in his exploitation career, but he's a little dull here. Not like he'd be later on when the '80s arrived and he found himself in the likes of THE MONSTER CLUB! Janet Leigh, famous from PSYCHO, seems to have aged a great deal in the ten years before this film was made, even though she was only in her mid 30s here. She doesn't have much to work with, other than getting menaced in a camper van for an interminable time. Rory Calhoun, a big western star in his time, is typecast as a rancher, while the sci-fi geeks are catered for with the appearance of DeForest Kelley as some kind of authority figure.My biggest disappointment was that none of these big names bites the dust, or even interacts much with the killer menace – surely it's tradition to have an A-lister die at the hands (or paws) of the monster? I wouldn't have mind seeing Kelley getting his neck chewed, but they all live. The same doesn't go for some supporting cast members, who are ripped to shreds in some surprisingly bloody moments when the rabbits attack. The special effects are pretty dodgy, but I found the rabbits to be surprisingly good foes (and my wife, who saw this as a kid, confirmed that it IS a scary movie when you see it young). The director has a way of filming them in slow motion, complete with weird computer-style sound effects, that makes the scenes quite eerie. The miniature backdrops are also well-handled and the giant killer rabbits are wisely kept in the murk. It's a pretty grisly film in places, with a neat climax that ties everything up. Maybe not a classic of the genre, but it IS a fun film.