Night of the Lepus (1972) MGM/Horror RT: 88 minutes Rated PG (mild language, violence, gore) Director: William F. Claxton Screenplay: Don Holliday and Gene R. Kearney Music: Jimmie Haskell Cinematography: Ted Voigtlander Release date: October 4, 1972 (US) Cast: Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh, Rory Calhoun, DeForest Kelley, Paul Fix, Melanie Fullerton, Chris Morrell, Chuck Hayward. Box Office: $3.7M (US)
Rating: *
How does one adequately describe a movie about giant killer rabbits? Is there any review or write-up that could possibly do such a brilliant premise justice? I gladly accept that challenge.
The movie is called Night of the Lepus and boy is it a doozy! For the scientifically challenged, Lepus is the genus to which hares and jackrabbits belong. The studio counted on most of the American public not knowing this fact when they changed the title from Rabbits to Night of the Lepus. They wanted to keep the featured mutant creatures a secret, but pretty much revealed their trump card when they included rabbits’ feet in the promotional materials.
What I want to know is fairly straightforward. In what world are bunny rabbits scary? Even if they grow to gargantuan size, they’re still too cute to be frightening. I don’t know what goes through people’s minds when they come up with ridiculous movies like Night of the Lepus. Apparently, I’m not alone in this as several name actors agreed to appear in this stinker. The line-up includes Stuart Whitman (The Longest Day), Janet Leigh (Psycho), Rory Calhoun (Motel Hell), DeForest Kelley (Star Trek) and Paul Fix (To Kill a Mockingbird). To put it bluntly, this movie is stupid! The only reason it merits a full star is for sheer audacity. Allow me to reiterate it’s about giant killer rabbits. It sounds more like an SNL sketch than a legitimate horror flick.
After a brief lesson about a rabbit population boom in New Zealand in the 50s, the scene shifts to the American Southwest where rancher Cole Hillman (Calhoun) is feeling the effects of another rabbit population explosion. They’re eating all the grass and plant life, leaving nothing for his cattle. He goes to college president Elgin Clark (Kelley) for help, but doesn’t want to use poison to combat the problem. Clark approaches husband-wife researchers Roy (Whitman) and Gerry Bennett (Leigh) precisely because they seek other methods of controlling such problems. After some not-so-careful thought, Roy comes up with the idea to inject them with a serum that will disrupt their breeding cycle. Naturally, it yields unexpected results. Thanks to his 10YO daughter Amanda (Fullerton), one of the rabbits gets loose and infects the other bunnies. In no time at all, several have grown to an enormous size and become vicious killers that go to work on old prospectors, truck drivers and frightened ranch hands. Local law enforcement is baffled at first, but soon come to understand what they’re dealing with. After a few unsuccessful attempts to wipe out the homicidal hares, they escape and start terrorizing the area. Yep, sounds pretty scary to me ….. NOT!
The one thing I can honestly say that I enjoyed about Night of the Lepus is that the actors managed to keep straight faces while reciting the truly heinous dialogue. My favorite scene is when a deputy interrupts the show at the local drive-in to inform the patrons of the pending danger. He says, “There is a herd of killer rabbits headed this way and we desperately need your help!” Said deputy also provides regular updates like, “Reports from headquarters confirm that the horde of killer rabbits is getting closer to town!” You see, I told you it’s like an SNL sketch! There is another bit of memorable dialogue; when Clark first goes to the Bennetts with his request, Gerry calmly informs him that “Rabbits aren’t exactly Roy’s bag.” I never thought I’d see the day when Leigh (a refined lady in real life) made a statement like that.
I know it’s not supposed to be a comedy, but I found myself laughing a lot during Night of the Lepus. The scene where Cole tries to hitch a ride into town by waving a shotgun around had me rolling. Even stoned-out hippies would make this guy eat their dust.
I guess you’re wondering about the giant killer rabbits, aren’t you? I’ll leave you in suspense no longer. They’re handled badly with some of the most unconvincing FX I’ve ever seen. The viewer either sees domestic bunnies with twitching noses against miniature sets or actors unconvincingly dressed in rabbit costumes for the attack scenes. During the climactic rampage, some of the rabbits appear transparent. In short, they’re not scary. All together now ….. RABBITS AREN’T SCARY!!!
As a horror flick, Night of the Lepus just doesn’t add up. It relies on every cliché and convention in the book including a mother and daughter being trapped in a remote place by the bad bunnies. Director William F. Claxton (he worked mostly on TV) tries to replicate the formula that worked so well in The Birds (1963). Rest assured, he’s no Hitchcock. Not even Alfie himself could do much with such silly material.
If I have to put a positive spin on Night of the Lepus, I might praise the quality of the acting. It takes a master thespian to get through something this idiotic with a straight face. I doubt the SNL players could pull off such a feat. This extends to the audience as I doubt anyone would be able to watch this with a straight face. I dare you to try. I triple-hare dare you!
