NIGHT OF THE LEPUS (1972)

Oh what creative ways we had to be able to do things in the 70s! Is this the ‘best’ movie out there? Prob not. Is the plot the best? Def not. Is it entertaining while sipping whisky and laughing at the screen? Absolutely! NIGHT OF THE LEPUS is a movie that stands on its own two rabbit feet…it’s literally about giant mutated rabbits running amok in the southwest and causing havoc. However, before the days of CGI, they had actual rabbits being used and filmed them in slow-motion with miniatures to get the desired ‘giant’ effect. Supposedly, people would dress up in suits for the close-up attacks but that’s not we want to see. We want the realistic shots of real rabbits bounding down the street! When dead bodies begin popping up in an otherwise quiet town, it’s up to townsfolk, including ‘Bones’ from Star Trek, Rory Calhoun of 'Motel Hell' and Janet Leigh to discover what the issue is. When will these movie people learn not to inject animals with growth hormones and then not expect disaster to happen? The tone is pretty straightforward and plays like a horror movie…no campy behavior. With the shots and direction already ridiculous, that’s probably a better idea than they would have realized. After you’re done doing your due diligence with the fam, pop this one in for the grandparents. Just be sure to hop back into the room to get the reactions.

SLASH SCENE: Any scenes of rabbits!

SLASH SCORE: 3.5/5