Link. From the “so bad it’s a laff riot and/or a drinking game” category, it’s probably the one and only horror film ever made that depicted giant mutant fluffy bunny rabbits rampaging the countryside and killing people. Best of all, it features Star Trek’s DeForest Kelley in what would be his final non-Trek movie role, looking like he’s scoping out the terrain for a bridge to jump off of. It also features Stuart Whitman and Rory Calhoun, and just to prevent it from being a complete stag-fest, it also has Janet Leigh, who had actually been a bankable movie star once. And everybody’s wearing fugly '70’s clothes…
Apparently, the filmmakers couldn’t think of another species of animal or plant that hadn’t been done already. So enjoy the bunny wabbits, the actors’ desperation to elevate the material, the model-railroad sets, and the electrifying conclusion.
Trivia: In the original Matrix film, when Neo goes to visit the Oracle in her apartment, this is what was playing on the TV in her living room. (The kids were bending spoons and stuff rather than paying attention to it, thank goodness.)
I only know this because my husband whispered “Night of the Lepus!” in my ear when we saw The Matrix in the theater. I got the “WTF?” expression, and he explained it to me afterwards. Then he inflicted the film on me.
Watch for the parts where the monster appears to be a hand puppet with ketchup around its mouth! Other “special” effects include cut-in shots of what appear to be very normal, mellow, domestic rabbits being herded along so it looks like they’re in pursuit of something.
Anyway, I saw this a few years ago with a bunch of friends who are really into horror movies and MST, and it was awesome. I don’t know that I’d want to watch it again without a drinking game being involved, but it’s worth watching just for the scene where it’s obviously a dude in a bad rabbit suit.
I believe so, although I was repeatedly nodding off from 3:15 A.M. on. Much lame-o rabbit-suitery ensues throughout the pic, or so it seemed to me.
I should probably get this on DVD at some point, because last night was at least the third time I’ve had this on TV only to have difficulty following it from beginning to end… since I always fall asleep or switch off the TV at some point – and Night of the Lepus is the epitome of the “Late, Late Movie,” seemingly never to be aired before 2 A.M.
According to IMDB, the flick’s co-writer Don Holliday never wrote another film. Gee-willikers, what a surprise!
The movie sported a number of quality-control issues, often recalling the anti-genius of the late, great Ed Wood: the writing (in both expository and dialogue passages) was clunky and non-sequiturish, there was heavy use of obvious stock footage, as well as a similar disregard for more general continuity problems (esp. day/night bloopers), and the special effects could be said to have been “special” only in the way that the Olympic games tailored for Down’s Syndrome kids are “special”.
To quote from Britain’s Time Out Film Guide [1998; I really need to get a current copy]: “…Whoever thought up this particular movie monster should have their* head examined. You can film a rabbit from a low angle, place it against a miniature set, smear red paint on its muzzle, and it will still look like your average, cuddly, nose-twitching bunnikins. One for Beatrix Potter buffs.”
Being British, the reviewer can’t help himself, using the plural “their” predicate adjective [??] instead of “his,” as any sensible if semi-literate Yank would say. OTOH, there’s no film review snarkiness like the stuff you find in the Time Out guides, so all is forgiven.
I love this movie! I was rolling on the floor the first time I saw it on TV. Although I think the title should have been “The Hoppening”.
Speaking of hopping, did anyone ever see another horrible movie where frogs and toads take over and hop people to death? I think it was called Frogs. Another classic.
The film I thought of immediately upon reading the OP.
My sister took me to see it when I was a kid. When we (she, I and her friend Judy) got back to the house it was dark. The back yard was a bit flooded. I don’t recall if it had been raining, but a hose could have been left on. Anyway, the back yard was hopping with frogs. :eek: I thought it was kind of funny, since sis and her friend were a little freaked out.
I saw Frogs again sometime in the '80s. Couldn’t believe how slow and bad it was.
My personal favorite of the “animals freak out and kill people” genre (my second choice for bad horror film sub-genres) is Slugs. Particularly amusing is that the main character is “Mike Brady”.
That’s what made me howl - most of the bunnies are domestic and several are lop-ear buns. You typically don’t see many of those in the wild… :rolleyes:
I find this movie fascinating for its odd tranquility. The characters fight, flee, and die with all the urgency of road workers fixing a pothole. The rabbits lope across the landscape in mellow slow motion. It’s zen-like, really.
