Night Of The Lepus (1972)

A hormone intended to alter the breeding cycle of rabbits overrunning ranchlands instead turns them into flesh eating 150 pound monsters. Based on the novel THE YEAR OF THE ANGRY RABBIT by Russell Braddon and directed by William F. Claxton (ROCKABILLY BABY). The 1950s saw a spate of sci-fi horror movies about small creatures mutated into giant beasts so we had giant ants, tarantulas, mantises, crabs, spiders etc. on the screen. The 1970s revived the genre so we had FROGS, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS and this one about killer rabbits on the rampage. Not normal size rabbits but giant bunnies attacking towns in herds! The film's biggest problems is ..... how do you make cuddly bunnies scary? They try smearing blood on the their faces, bare their teeth, dub them with fierce growls but none of it works. It's a ghastly misguided project with several unintentional funny moments. My favorite is when the sheriff (Paul Fix) tells a crowded drive in movie theatre, "There's a herd of killer rabbits heading this way, we need to evacuate everyone". Nobody laughs or says "What the f*ck?" or "Huh?", they dutifully and immediately evacuate the drive in. Not as fun as it sounds. The poor humans stuck in this mess include Janet Leigh, Stuart Whitman, Rory Calhoun and DeForest Kelley.