As obscure as a 1970's drive-in flick can tend to get, Night Of The Lepus finally gets an official release from Warner Brothers (it's long only been available on murky bootlegs) and after years and years of reading about just how horrible this "giant killer bunnies" horror movie was I finally got to see it. Is it as bad as I read? Probably not. It's not a good movie, by any means, it's right up there with Bert I. Gordon's 70's contributions to the "giant killer animal" genre (Food Of The Gods, Empire Of The Ants) but if you're looking for a hugely silly movie with monsters that are next to impossible to find imposing (director William F. Claxton does try his damnedest shooting them from low angles and using multiple close-ups on their eyes and teeth) then this one should sate your desire for bad B-movie drivel - but bad B-movie drivel with a bunch of recognizable faces.

Opening with a news report that tells us all about the problems of rabbit overpopulation and how the furry little rodents are eating Australian farmers out of house and home we meet-up with married zoologists Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh who are brought in by rancher Rory Calhoun's farm to try and help solve the fact his land is overrun with the long eared menaces. Things tend to get worse from here and they certainly do as an experimental serum is injected into one of the test rabbits and not too long after it gets loose there's a slew of giant, human blood lusting hares on the rampage.

If you've ever had the desire to see a giant bunny with blood smeared around its mouth then you'll want to see Night Of The Lepus. It's filled with all sorts of badly staged attack scenes (like the broken down produce truck that has no purpose in the movie other than to be ambushed), a script that touches on the typical environmental issues all others of it's type tend to, and an incredibly (and unintentionally) hilarious scene where the Army asks for the co-operation of drive-in movie patrons by telling them there's "a herd of giant killer rabbits headed this way...". In other words, if you're a fan of sloppy and bad 70's horror flicks you'll enjoy yourself.

Night Of The Lepus has gathered and unwarranted following over the years and while I can see where people are coming from declaring it's "so bad, it's good" the problem with such a claim is that the movie is pretty dull for the most part and wastes Leigh in an inconsequential role (at least they let her fight off some of the rabbits with lit flares!). Most movies branded with the dubious honour at least manage to move fairly quickly and get some sort of over-the-top performance from one of the cast members - this does neither. (Chris Hartley, 10/20/05)

Directed By: William F. Claxton.
Written By: Don Holliday, Gene R. Kearney.

Starring: Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh, Rory Calhoun, DeForest Kelly.

Picture Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Not an impressive looking transfer but it is quite a step about VHS would look and considering it has never been available before now it might've been hard to hunt down a truly pristine print to use. There's a handful of grain scattered throughout and a few fuzzy moments, but it could've looked a lot worse.

Extras: As with the other releases in Warner's 2005 "Halloween Havoc" line (that includes Demon Seed, Dracula A.D. 1972, Private Parts, and A Stranger Is Watching) the only extra here is a trailer. And what an awesome trailer it is! Never once showing the creatures (which would effectively kill the chances of anyone wanting to see it) and containing ominous narration it's a shining example of what 70's drive-in trailers were.