Night of the Lepus (1972)

User Rating:

3.7/10   

Director:

William F. Claxton

Writers:

Russell Braddon (novel)
Don Holliday (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

4 October 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

They were born that tragic moment when science made its great mistake... now from behind the shroud of night they come, a scuttling, shambling horde of creatures destroying all in their path.

Plot:

Giant mutant rabbits terrorize the southwest!!

Plot Keywords:

Rabbit | Dead Family | Giant Animal | Mutant Animal | Pantyhose

Cast

Stuart Whitman	...	Roy Bennett
Janet Leigh	...	Gerry Bennett
Rory Calhoun	...	Cole Hillman
DeForest Kelley	...	Elgin Clark
Paul Fix	...	Sheriff Cody
Melanie Fullerton	...	Amanda Bennett
Chris Morrell	...	Jackie Hillman
Chuck Hayward	...	Jud
Henry Wills	...	Frank
Francesca Jarvis	...	Mildred
William Elliott	...	Dr. Leopold
Bob Hardy	...	Professor Dirkson (as Robert Hardy)
Richard Jacome	...	Deputy Jason
Inez Perez	...	Housekeeper
Roy Gaintner	...	Walker (as G. Leroy Gaintner)
Evans Thornton	...	Major White
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Dispatcher
Robert Gooden	...	Leslie
Walter Kelley	...	Truck Driver
Frank Kennedy	...	Doctor
Don Starr	...	Cutler
Peter O'Crotty	...	Arlen
Phillip Avenetti	...	Officer Lopez
Russell Morrell	...	Priest
Donna Gelgur	...	Wife in car
Steve DeFrance	...	Husband in Car (as Stephen deFrance)
Sherry Hummer	...	Child in car
Rick Hummer	...	Child in car
Jerry Dunphy	...	Television Newscaster

Directed by
William F. Claxton

Writing credits
Russell Braddon		(novel "The Year of the Angry Rabbit")
Don Holliday		(screenplay) and
Gene R. Kearney		(screenplay)

Produced by
A.C. Lyles	....	producer

Original Music by
Jimmie Haskell

Cinematography by
Ted Voigtlander

Film Editing by
John McSweeney Jr.		(as John McSweeney)

Production Design by
Stan Jolley

Set Decoration by
William F. Calvert		(as William Calvert)

Makeup Department
Wes Dawn	....	makeup artist
Alma Johnson	....	hair stylist

Production Management
John G. Wilson	....	unit production manager (as John Wilson)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stan Jolley	....	second unit director
Ted Schilz	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Jerry Jost	....	sound
Hal Watkins	....	sound

Stunts
Jerry Brutsche	....	stunt performer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Owen Marsh	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norman A. Burza	....	wardrobe (as Norman Burza)

Other crew
Henry Cowl	....	animal trainer
Lou Schumacher	....	animal trainer
Lee Sollenberger	....	animal trainer: rabbits
Jack N. Young	....	location manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• A.C. Lyles Productions

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM-EMI (1972) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1975) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Howard Anderson Company, The

Also Known As:

Rabbits (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG | UK:X (original rating) | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Ajo, Arizona, USA

Company:

A.C. Lyles Productions

Trivia:

The marketers for the film feared that if audiences found out the film was about giant killer rabbits too quickly that no one would take the film seriously. In an attempt to keep ambiguity the poster art for Night of the Lepus didn't feature any rabbits.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the climactic rabbit rampage, poor film processing makes some of the rabbits look transparent.

Quotes:

Husband in Car: Picking up no strangers, Susan. I said that when we left Denver, and I'm sticking with it. Especially a man carrying a gun!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 3 (1996) (V)

Just when you thought it was safe to back into the carrot patch!

For all those film critics who claim that Hollywood is scared to try new ideas, here's proof that Hollywood will try anything. After making monster movies which feature every imaginable kind of vermon and pest, Hollywood got desperate and made one about monster rabbits.

(Monster RABBITS?)

That's right, the word "lepus" means rabbit. The story concerns a group of scientist who try to solve a rabbit over-population problem in the Midwest by injecting the bunnies with a hormone intended to decrease their breeding abilities. Instead, the hormone increases the rabbits' growth rate until they weight 150 pounds, stand four feet tall, and roar.

(ROARING rabbits?)

Right! That's part of what makes them MONSTER rabbits. The special effects involve a combination of real rabbits on miniature sets and actors in monster rabbit suits.

(Monster rabbit SUITS!?)

The National Guard is called in to battle this menace to mankind.

(The National Guard battles BIG BUNNIES!!?)

Yes, indeed. Producer A. C. Lyles and director William F. Claxton knew full-well that a distinguished cast was needed to lend credibility to this bold and risky venture, so they hired Stuart Whitman ("City Beneath the Sea"), Janet Leigh ("Psycho"), Deforest Kelly ("Star Trek"), Rory Calhoun ("The Texan"), and Paul Fix (numerous westerns).

These fine stars did their best, but alas it wasn't enough, and "Night of the Lepus" is considered a failed experiment. What the film needed was Morris Ankrum as an army general who uttered lines such as,

"Good Lord, if we don't stop these monsters, there won't be a single carrot left on the planet!"

Now that I would love to see.