Warner Brothers Home Video has finally given cult horror fans a film on DVD that I know I have been wanting for ages! Night of the Lepus has made its way to DVD for the first time and if I'm not mistaken, this feature film never had an official home video release, so about the only way to catch this cult classic was late-night TV or some Saturday afternoon showing and let me tell you, over the past twenty plus year, I haven't seen this, nearly enough. I do know when I was still a pre-teen, this film would show up on late-night TV on a regular basis, but to my surprise, I only ever saw the edited version....that is, until, now.
Seems the 70s were full of 'Nature On the Rampage' films and this is one of the more fun films, in my opinion. Certainly not a film that can be compared to something like, Jaws, as the subject matter may be too comical for some to even identify the film as serious and belonging in the horror genre.
Cole Hillman (Rory Calhoun) is a rancher living in Arizona and he and his neighboring ranchers have a serious Lepus problem (that's rabbit, to we common folk!). Their ranches are being overrun by the pesky creatures and Hillman prefers to rid the rabbit population without poison (70s ecology!). Elgin Clark (DeForest Kelley), a friend and college president offers Hillman a possible solution, two married scientists, Roy (Stuart Whitman) and Gerry (Janet Leigh) Bennett, on an exchange program at the university who are working on solutions to overpopulation in the animal kingdom without the use of pesticides. The Bennetts are most eager to try and come up with a solution that will benefit both the ranchers and the rabbits. Unfortunately, a test rabbit is switched by their very annoying young daughter, unbeknownst to the Bennetts and soon, the Arizona country-side is overrun with not only thousands of rabbits, but large...hungry rabbits!
OK, don't laugh! While this film does boast a rather unbelievable story, it's not as bad as you might think. As mentioned earlier, I'd only ever seen the edited version and Warner Brothers offers this classic in its unedited form and that offers viewers a few 'shock/gore' scenes. Now, don't dash out and pick this DVD up thinking you'll see tons of gore and a blood-filled screen, it just isn't going to happen, but you will get a couple of scenes that might surprise you for a film made in 1972. Clocking in at under 90 minutes, the film never has enough opportunity to develop the characters, but with this style film, it's not really what you watch the film for, so no harm is really done. As I've gotten older, the film has a made-for-TV feel to it and that might be due to the fact that it's directed by William F. Claxton, perhaps best known as directing TV episodes of, Bonanza, Little House On the Prairie, Gunsmoke and Highway to Heaven. Claxton and the cast handle the film well, given it's subject matter and personally, I find this to be an enjoyable film....with the exception of the Bennett's daughter....I'd have fed her to the rabbits, myself!
The film itself is presented in an anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer, it looks quite nice. There is some minor print damage and some scenes look a bit more grainy than others, but overall, not a bad transfer, especially given the age and the fact this film is definitely of the 'B' variety.
Sadly, the only bonus feature for the disc is the theatrical trailer that doesn't look too bad. Given the fact that most of the main cast has passed away and those still with us might prefer not to 'fess' up to being part of the film, the trailer is all you can look forward to.
While I love this film and find it great fun, I'd hesitate in recommending the film as a purchase, check it out as a rental and chances are, just for the camp/cult classic fun, you may want to add the DVD to your collection.
Buy Night of the Lepes on DVD at Amazon.com
