NIGHT OF THE LEPUS

Carnivorous rabbit on the rampage!

NIGHT OF THE LEPUS (1972). Director: William F. Claxton. 

Husband and wife scientist team Roy (Stuart Whitman of Tender Flesh) and Gerry (Janet Leigh) Bennett are called in to see what they can do about the population explosion of hungry rabbits that are destroying crops in Arizona. Rancher Cole Hillman (Rory Calhoun of Thunder in Carolina) is hoping the couple can come up with something that is ecologically sound. A test bunny escapes from the lab and before you know it there is a new breed of outsized, carnivorous, vicious and very hungry rabbits munching down on horses, cattle -- and people. Oops!

Inept scientists? Leigh and Whitman

Night of the Lepus is played perfectly straight, which is why I've always found it rather charming. There is no attempt to turn the rabbits into monstrously mutated horrors with gigantic fangs and claws -- they just look like bunnies -- but in spite of that the clever editing, close-up photography, and especially the eerie sound FX with squeals and the thumps of heavy footfalls give the rabbits a genuinely menacing aura at times and there are some creepy and suspenseful sequences. There are also hilarious scenes, such as when a cop tells a crowd at a drive-in theater that "there is a herd of killer rabbits heading your way."

Really big bunnies take after pitiful victim

The rabbits are described as being the size of wolves, but in most process shots they appear to be much bigger, at least man-sized, and more often as big as horses or even baby elephants. There are also a lot of shots employing miniature buildings, cars and trucks for the little darlings to play around in. DeForest Kelley of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country plays a friend of the Bennetts. Jimmie Haskell's score is spookily effective. While I can well understand why many people feel this is a terrible movie, I have to say I've always gotten a kick out of it! William F. Claxton also directed Rockabilly Baby.

Verdict: Bugs Bunny's least favorite movie. ***.