Fresh and Exciting

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The production company of this film stated that they never harmed any rabbits that were suppose to be someone's pet. Well, considering that every rabbit used in this film was taken from a meat breeder or a dog pound pretty much tells that whole story. Rabbits are sensitive, loving and playful animals. They do no harm to any human. Yet in this movie, rabbits are stressed beyond their minds, abused plus killed on film for human entertainment. The helpless rabbits were subjected to no food or waters for many hours, then murdered in cold blood for pure human entertainment. In today's world, we fight to protect rabbits from the greed of Man, hoping no production company will ever abuse rabbits again in their blood lust for fame. In the time since the making of this horrible film, PETA, Last Chance For Animals and House Rabbit Society lobbied the United States Superior Court to put a stop to producers who try to use defenseless animals such as rabbits in films. Thank God we were successful. Please boycott this film as it doesn't represent who were are as a society any longer. We humans are now compassionate towards animal suffering and this film is a mockery against our evolution.

Let me ask you something. Say you're at the drive-in with your family and you hear the announcement made in my summary line above. Do you immediately start your car and leave or wonder whether you need a hearing aid? Well, every car turned on it's lights and headed out the exit, apparently in the belief that a herd of killer rabbits is just one of those things you might run into every now and then. One could make a case that they really didn't care for the flick showing at the drive-in - it was "Every Little Crook and Nanny", and YES!, that was a real movie that came out the same year this one did. With Lynn Redgrave and Victor Mature in the cast, it rates a whole point higher than this one on IMDb.You know, sometimes I struggle to write these film reviews, and sometimes they just write themselves. This is one of those times where the words just gush forth in dubious admiration for a flick that's so outrageous it just had to be made. Who came up with this concept? It would have been right at home in that bizarre year of 1959 which offered up such celluloid treats as "The Giant Gila Monster" and "The Killer Shrews". Both of those pictures, along with 'Lepus', make the best use of extreme close-up shots to enlarge their title creatures to monstrous proportions against the miniaturized buildings they over run.One of the principals here is the old Texan himself, Rory Calhoun, ditching his vest and leading the charge against the giant mutant killer bunnies, along side Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh, a nifty trio of actors who somehow managed to keep a straight face throughout the proceedings. DeForest Kelley also got roped into this thing, and for a guy who once had trouble with tribbles, I'm wondering how the heck he came along for this ride.The thing is, nobody ever got wise to the fact that it was the Bennett's (Whitman and Leigh) own daughter who was responsible for the hare-raising horror that followed when she switched places with a serum injected rabbit she liked for another one that she put in a quarantine cage. The kid got away scot-free and no one was any the wiser. Even crack sheriff Cody (Paul Fix) couldn't solve this puzzle, after all those years keeping the peace in North Fork. You'll have to forgive all my TV Western references, you can blame director William Claxton who brought along a host of former acting colleagues from prior projects.The biggest kick I got out of this flick were all those great slow-mo rabbit stampedes, ominously approaching their intended victims or descending on the next unfortunate town in their path. By this time in 1972 it seems the film makers should have eased up on the brightness of the fire engine red blood on all those poor victims. I'd understand if this was a Hammer film, but it wasn't, so next time, let's try to tone it down a bit, OK?

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.

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.