History Film / NightOfTheLepus

* ShoutOut: If you look carefully, you can see a few seconds of this movie on the TV in ''Film/TheMatrix'' when Neo walks into the Oracle's apartment. Bits of footage also appear in the movie ''Film/NaturalBornKillers''.
** Also appears in a flashback in an episode of ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris'', explaining Julius' rabbit phobia.
** Amazingly, the plan used to kill the rabbits is almost ''exactly'' the same as the title character's final ploy in Creator/MarkTwain's ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt.''

%% * HairRaisingHare. Well. It's what they were gunning for.

* '''KillerRabbit''': And not a Holy Hand Grenade in sight.

A 1972 film directed by William F. Claxton, it tells the story of how Dr. Elgin Clark (Creator/DeForestKelley sporting an ''extremely'' orange turtleneck) helped Roy (Creator/StuartWhitman) and Gerry (Creator/JanetLeigh) Bennett, along with rancher Cole Hillman (Creator/RoryCalhoun) save the world from a herd of ''Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits''.

* DisasterMovie: Explicitly falls into the ecological 'My God what have we done' subsection.

* HairRaisingHare. Well. It's what they were gunning for.

* HotScientist: It ''is'' Creator/JanetLeigh, after all...

This 1972 effort, directed by William F. Claxton, is the story of how [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Doctor McCoy]] (OK, OK, Creator/DeForestKelley, but in a ''really'' orange turtleneck) helped Stuart Whitman, Creator/JanetLeigh and Rory Calhoun save the world from a herd of '''Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits'''.

The premise is that experimental hormone injections, intended to stop the rabbits breeding as an environmentally-friendly form of pest control, actually cause them to become '''Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits'''. One dosed-up bunny escapes into the wild and starts breeding with the local population. Suddenly there are hordes of '''Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits''' running around, and it's all very ironic. Or something.

In the interests of total fairness, wild rabbits ''can'' be surprisingly vicious when pushed to it (ask anyone who's ever read ''Literature/WatershipDown'', or talk to UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter). It's also worth noting that the movie's based on a novel, Russell Braddon's ''The Year of the Angry Rabbit'', which is a sci-fi satire of UsefulNotes/AustralianPolitics and the UsefulNotes/ColdWar using that country's perennial efforts to cull [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia its non-native rabbit population]] as a plot hook. The filmmakers, however, play the story absolutely straight, [[SettingUpdate dropping the novel's Australian setting]] and comedy elements, resulting in... well, a horror movie about giant, killer bunny rabbits.

And let's face it, casting rabbits as menacing monsters with a lust for human flesh is proof that when this idea was greenlit the studio execs had just emerged from a decade spent under a rock, being whacked with a stupid stick. The clearly miniscule SFX budget doesn't help.

Eventually, Our Heroes drive the 'shambling hordes' over some electrified train tracks, and the viewer is left to imagine them spending the rest of their lives trying to convince people of how brave they were, saving the world from Thumper.

Interestingly, this movie was famously ''not'' featured on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', despite the show having mentioned it a couple of times, indicating that its creators were aware of it. One can only assume they could not resolve the licensing issues (with a much more prominent studio than is usual among their targets)... or else they thought it would be just ''too'' easy. Although it did get the ''Podcast/RiffTrax'' treatment. ''WebVideo/BestOfTheWorst'' also reviewed it.

* AdaptationDistillation: Basically, all it has in common with the book are the killer rabbits..
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: A giant rabbit claws a gap in a wooden floor in an apparent attempt to get at the humans in the cellar. Rabbits, like their distant rodent cousins, could far more easily ''gnaw'' their way through wood.

* BMovie: It's hard to believe a major studio (Creator/{{MGM}}) paid for this movie, let alone ponied up for a decent cast... but they did.
* CallARabbitASmeerp: The film calls their threat by their Latin genus, because ''Night of the Bunnies'' wouldn't sound threatening.
* CastingGag: Paul Fix, who plays Sheriff Cody, was Dr. Piper in the second ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before", before being replaced by [=DeForest=] Kelley's Dr. [=McCoy=] for the rest of the series.
* ChromaKey: ''Very'' badly done.
* CoversAlwaysLie: Or at least misdirect.
** Likewise for the title. The studio was obviously counting on moviegoers not knowing what "Lepus" means.[[note]] Technically "lepus" is the genus name for hares, which are considered a separate genus from rabbits, though the difference is sufficiently arcane not to make much difference. Plus, something as unpronounceable as ''Night of the 'Oryctolagus''' would have been even worse.[[/note]]

->''"How often have you seen an awful movie and said to yourself, 'What were they thinking?!' Well, after watching ''Night of the Lepus'', the question you'll be asking instead is'', [='=]''Were''' ''they thinking?![='=]"''
-->-- ''Website/TheAgonyBooth''

This 1972 effort, directed by William F. Claxton, is the story of how [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Doctor McCoy]] (OK, OK, Creator/DeForestKelley, but in a ''really'' orange turtleneck) helped Stuart Whitman, Creator/JanetLeigh and Rory Calhoun save the world from a herd of '''Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits'''.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[NeverTrustATrailer The movie is nowhere near as scary]] as [[ComingAttractions this poster]]... [[CoversAlwaysLie but you knew that, right?]]]]

In the interests of total fairness, wild rabbits ''can'' be surprisingly vicious when pushed to it (ask anyone who's ever read ''Literature/WatershipDown'', or talk to UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter). It's also worth noting that the movie's based on a novel, Russell Braddon's ''The Year of the Angry Rabbit'', which is a sci-fi satire of UsefulNotes/AustralianPolitics and the UsefulNotes/ColdWar using that country's perennial efforts to cull [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia its non-native rabbit population]] as a plot hook. The filmmakers, however, play the story absolutely straight, [[SettingUpdate dropping the novel's Australian setting]] and comedy elements, resulting in...well, a horror movie about giant, killer bunny rabbits.

And let's face it, casting rabbits as menacing monsters with a lust for human flesh is... proof that when this idea was greenlit the studio execs had just emerged from a decade spent under a rock, being whacked with a stupid stick. The clearly miniscule SFX budget doesn't help.

The premise is that experimental hormone injections, intended to stop the rabbits breeding as an environmentally-friendly form of pest control, actually cause them to become Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits. One dosed-up bunny escapes into the wild and starts breeding with the local population. Suddenly there are hordes of Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits running around, and it's all very ironic. Or something.

* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer goes out of its way to avoid showing any Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits, which of course raises the question: if you realize your monsters aren't scary, why would you still make a movie about them?

** If you told a local sheriff that there are Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits heading towards town, they'd automatically assume you're either drunk or hiding a candid camera. The authorities in the movie, by contrast, seem perfectly OK with this concept.
** One police officer interrupts a showing at a DriveInTheater to ask for assistance in dealing with a herd of Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits. Literally, all he says is "There is a herd of giant killer bunnies coming this way, and we need your help!" Not ONE person in the entire drive-in so much as raises an eyebrow at this before fully complying (and they all bring their kids along!).

Another legendary bad movie. This 1972 effort, directed by William F. Claxton, is the story of how [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Doctor McCoy]] (OK, OK, Creator/DeForestKelley, but in a ''really'' orange turtleneck) helped Stuart Whitman, Creator/JanetLeigh and Rory Calhoun save the world from a herd of '''Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits'''.

No, really. The idea is that experimental hormone injections, intended to stop the rabbits breeding as an environmentally-friendly form of pest control, actually cause them to become Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits. One dosed-up bunny escapes into the wild and starts breeding with the local population. Suddenly there are hordes of Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits running around, and it's all very ironic. Or something.

* '''[[KillerRabbit Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits]]''': And not a Holy Hand Grenade in sight.

* AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle: The trailer narration pronounces "mutant" as "Mute-Ant".
* AdaptationDistillation: Basically, all it has in common with the book are the killer rabbits. Albeit chances are you've [[AdaptationDisplacement never heard of the novel]].

** Played straight to FridgeLogic levels. Really now -- if you told a local sheriff that there are Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits heading towards town, they'd automatically assume you're either drunk or hiding a candid camera. The authorities in the movie, by contrast, seem perfectly OK with this concept.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: See IdiotHoudini.

* AscendedToCarnivorism: The formerly strictly-herbivorous bunnies lust for flesh after becoming giant-sized, and though they do attack some horses and cattle, man is the main dish on their menu. In later scenes, they are shown stampeding to hurl themselves at humans ''right past'' edible trees and bushes.

* AscendedToCarnivorism: The formerly strictly-herbivorous bunnies lust for flesh after becoming giant-sized, and though they do attack some horses and cattle, man is the main dish on their menu.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: A giant rabbit claws a gap in a wooden floor in an apparent attempt to get at the humans in the cellar. Rabbits, like their rodent cousins, could far more easily ''gnaw'' their way through wood.

* TerrifyingPetStoreRat: For wild animals supposedly driven to turn predatory due to the exhaustion of their usual food sources, the killer bunnies all look ''really'' well-fed and groomed.

** Likewise for the title. The studio was obviously counting on moviegoers not knowing what "Lepus" means.[[note]] Technically "lepus" is the genus name for hares, which are considered a separate genus from rabbits, though the difference is sufficiently arcane not to make much difference.[[/note]]

%%* KillItWithFire

* '''[[KillerRabbit Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits]]'''
* KillItWithFire

* NoPronunciationGuide: Throughout the movie Lepus is pronounced as alternately "Leap-Us" or "Leh-Pus". And ''both'' are wrong (it's pronounced the same as 'leper').
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: Which in this case mostly means 'amazingly stupid'.

* TheProfessor

** One police officer interrupts a showing at a DriveInTheater to ask for assistance in dealing with a herd of Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits. Literally, all he says is "There is a herd of giant killer bunnies coming this way, and we need your help!" Not ONE person in the entire drive-in so much as raises an eyebrow at this before fully complying (and they all bring their kids along!)

** Amazingly, the plan used to kill the rabbits is almost ''exactly'' the same as the title characters final ploy in Creator/MarkTwain's ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt.''

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever

* CallARabbitASmeerp: Subverted. The film calls their threat by their Latin genus, because ''Night of the Bunnies'' wouldn't sound threatening.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Throughout the movie Lepus is pronounced as alternately "Leap-Us" or "Leh-Pus".
** And ''both'' are wrong (it's pronounced the same as 'leper').

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Played straight to FridgeLogic levels. Really now -- if you told a local sheriff that there are Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits heading towards town, they'd automatically assume you're either drunk or hiding a candid camera. The authorities in the movie, by contrast, seem perfectly OK with this concept.
** Leading to the famous followup scene where one police officer interrupts a showing at a DriveInTheater to ask for assistance in dealing with a herd of Giant Killer Bunny Rabbits. Literally, all he says is "There is a herd of giant killer bunnies coming this way, and we need your help!" Not ONE person in the entire drive-in so much as raises an eyebrow at this before fully complying (and they all bring their kids along!)

In the interests of total fairness, wild rabbits ''can'' be surprisingly vicious when pushed to it (ask anyone who's ever read ''Literature/WatershipDown''). It's also worth noting that the movie's based on a novel, Russell Braddon's ''The Year of the Angry Rabbit'', which is a sci-fi satire of UsefulNotes/AustralianPolitics and the UsefulNotes/ColdWar using that country's perennial efforts to cull [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia its non-native rabbit population]] as a plot hook. The filmmakers, however, play the story absolutely straight, [[SettingUpdate dropping the novel's Australian setting]] and comedy elements, resulting in...well, a horror movie about giant, killer bunny rabbits.