Re: Retrospective: Night of the Lepus (1972)
Mentat Cottontail
In message
<a0ecebcd-8fa0-4b34...@o14g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
Jerry Saravia <faustu...@yahoo.com> writes
>NIGHT OF THE LEPUS (1972)
>Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
>RATING: One star (D)
>
>Even for grade-Z schlock, "Night of the Lepus" is so poor in all
>departments that aim to either thrill, shock or even remotely scare
>that I wonder what sort of drugs the filmmakers were on.
>
>The movie concerns rabbits who grow to mammoth proportions - we are
>talking "Food of the Gods"-size. How, you might ask? Zoologist Dr.
>Bennett (Stuart Whitman) injects rabbits with hormones to help prevent
>further reproduction due to those little critters destroying a farmer's
>crops. Unfortunately, one of the test subjects (the rabbit, that is)
>escapes and the injection leads to mutated, giant rabbits who begin
>eating people in a nearby town. This is a job for the National Guard!
>
>Based on a sci-fi novel called "The Year of the Angry Rabbit" (the
>themes and content are vastly different), "Night of the Lepus" has a
>concept that can't possibly work, unless the rabbits are shown to be
>ferocious creatures with evil red eyes. Unfortunately, the rabbits are
>merely filmed in slow-motion wide-angle shots amidst model town
>replicas! The best that can be shown are the rabbits' bloodied incisor
>teeth! In some cases, actors are dressed in bunny suits! I pity Janet
>Leigh and Stuart Whitman, as well as DeForest Kelley and Rory Calhoun,
>for appearing in this junk. They stand around, look concerned, and
>utter the most banal dialogue ever written for a monster movie. To top
>it all off, the ending leaves the door open for a sequel. Ugh.
>
>There is one moment I love. The National Guard stops a screening at a
>drive-in and announce that the town is under attack by killer rabbits.
>The cars promptly leave the drive-in. I have two questions: did these
>townsfolk think a big prank was being played on them and, secondly, why
>leave so promptly? Has this happened before?
>
>
>For more reviews, check out my blog at:
>http://jerrysaravia.blogspot.com
>
>Email: faustu...@yahoo.com
>
--
Mentat Cottontail, HR,
Winnersh on the World Wide Warren
http://www.fairbruk.demon.co.uk/whome.html
written by Kevin Blackburn Ke...@fairbruk.demon.co.uk