Night of the Lepus (1972)

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.

The one thing I really liked about Night Of The Lepus was the depiction of that vast army of supersized rabbits. Otherwise a whole lot of familiar players look like they're in some kind of discomfort doing this science fiction epic.Rabbits do two things very well, they multiply and they eat. The famous introduction of them to Australia is used as an example when they were imported to Australia and become ravaging the food supply.The same thing is happening in the Southwest USA. One of those effected is rancher Rory Calhoun. He sends for scientific type help and he gets Professor Stuart Whitman and wife Janet Leigh who bring their little daughter with them.Whitman doesn't play this like Dr. Frankenstein, but he's decided on some radical experimentation with hormones. Does it ever grow wrong with rabbits growing to be the size of SUVs.This was produced by A.C. Lyles of the geezer westerns of the Sixties. I wish he had stuck to those.

Believe it or not, this isn't a terrible movie. Obviously it's a silly premise and, as far as monster movies go it will never rank up there with Them! or Nightbreed, but it's actually quite well done from a filmmaker perspective.I really wanted to write a proper review, but I'll leave that to the ages and simply give my personal shout out to the DP on this one. If you like cheesy monster flicks, see it, but if you want to learn something about how to deal with a terrible monster movie while still loving the craft, then study Ted Voigtlander's work.In short, I like this movie. It's cheesy and stupid in its premise, but the direction and photography more than make up for the horrific source material. I, for one, am glad this film exists.

Leeches, shrews, sheep, worms, frogs: there have been some pretty dumb killer animal movies over the years, but they all pale into insignificance compared with Night of the Lepus, which features hordes of over-sized man-eating rabbits rampaging through Arizona, devouring anyone who crosses their path. Such an idea might be excusable had tongue been firmly planted in cheek, but with all involved seemingly taking matters as seriously as possible, Lepus has deservedly gone down in the annals of cinema as one of the stupidest films ever made.The surprisingly decent cast includes Janet Leigh, Stuart Whitman, and DeForrest Kelly (taking whatever work comes his way after the cancellation of Star Trek), but despite their best efforts, they simply can't make big fluffy bunnies scary. Some reasonable miniature work and silly slow motion photography are used to make real rabbits appear larger than life, and there are a few surprisingly bloody moments to try and convince the viewer that the hopping horrors are truly terrifying, but the film is far more likely to cause fits of laughter than shivers of fright.6/10 for being so unintentionally hilarious and, consequently, a lot of fun.