Night of the Lepus (1972)

Giant mutant rabbits terrorize the south-west.

Director:

William F. Claxton

Writers:

Don Holliday (screenplay), Gene R. Kearney (screenplay)

Stars:

Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh, Rory Calhoun

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

Cole Hillman's Arizona ranch is plagued with 'mongrel' rabbits, and he wants to employ an ecologically sound control method. As a favor to college benefactor Hillman, college president Elgin Clark calls in zoologist Roy Bennett to help. Bennett immediately begins injecting rabbits with hormones and genetically mutated blood in an effort to develop a method of disrupting rabbit reproduction. One of the test subjects escapes, resulting in a race of bloodthirsty, wolf-sized, man-, horse-, and cow-eating bunnies. Eventually the National Guard is called in for a final showdown with the terrorizing rabbits.

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Plot Keywords:

giant rabbit | mutation | rampage | killer rabbit | giant animal | 

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Taglines:

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.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rabbits

Filming Locations:

Sonoita, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$900,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,711,923

Company Credits

Production Co:

A.C. Lyles Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Strings of popping firecrackers were superimposed over the death scene of the giant rabbits to simulate electric.

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Goofs

When Gerry throws the flare, it should be about the size of a cigarette among the giant rabbits. Instead, it's regular scale.

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Quotes

Gerry Bennett: Rabbits aren't your bag Roy.

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Connections

Featured in The Riff Brothers (2010)

User Reviews

It's a classic. Watch it if you like really BAD films.

This is a true classic. It has such an absurd plot that you couldn't ever think of taking it remotely seriously.

Basically killer mutant rabbits go on the rampage. Or rather, harmless rabbits are photographed with miniatures or have their images enlarged and superimposed to look menacing.

And do they look menacing? Well.....no, not at all. They just look like a bunch of Watership Down wannabees out on a stroll.

What was DeForest Kelley thinking when he signed up to this. Or Janet Leigh for that matter. Just how did they get persuaded to star in this?

It's a classic. Watch it if you like really BAD films.