Killer Bunnies!

 

NIGHT OF THE LEPUS-1972-A rancher Cole Hillman (Rory Calhoun) is over run by rabbits. He asks a college prof. Elgin Clark (Deforest Kelly) to help. Clark calls in environment friendly husband and wife scientists Roy and Gerry Bennett (Stuart Whitman & Janet Leigh) who decide to do a hormone experiment on the bunnies. Unfortunately their little daughter Amanda (Melanie Fullerton) switches the test subject hare with a regular one which escapes literally down the rabbit hole. After a truck driver and a miner are mutilated by giant bloodthirsty rabbits they also terrorize the daughter. The old sheriff (Paul Fix) investigates after a family of campers is killed. They dynamite the mine the rabbits are hanging out in but that doesn't do much good. The hungry hares go on a rampage scaring horses and cattle and bloodily killing townspeople. 

Very strange Bert I. Gordon like horror film was produced by AC Lyles and is not as bad as it's been written about. It also features familiar character I. Stanford Jolley in his last feature role. Director William Claxton does an acceptable job of mixing real blown up rabbits with close-uos of fake ones while throwing in some bloody scenes to make you forget how ludicrous the plot is. It's based on a novel by Australian writer Richard Braddon. To read about the novel go here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_of_the_Angry_Rabbit

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading!

"It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters"

 

MOTEL HELL-1980-At the Hotel Hello where the “o” burns out Farmer Vincent (Rory Calhoun) rescues Terry (Nina Axelrod) from a motorcycle crash and brings her to his hotel/farm where he lives with his sister Ida (Nancy Parsons; later in the PORKY'S series of movies). A nosy animal doctor finds out the farmer's secret. He's “harvesting” kidnapped people to make his famous sausage products. He sets traps that make a rock band's van crash, then plants them. The same goes for an S & M couple (Elaine Joyce and Dick Curtis) while a TV preacher (Wolfman Jack) is on TV. Jealous Ida tries to drown Terry but Vincent saves her (it looked like an accident) and Terry agrees to marry him! Bruce (Paul Linke; later a regular on the TV show CHiPs) the stupid sheriff discovers Vincent is up to no good. Some of the victims get loose and kill Ida. Bruce fights Vincent (in a pig mask) in a chainsaw battle finale. He kills Vincent and saves Terry before she's chopped up. A clip from THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD shows up on TV. 

This weird horror comedy was directed by Kevin Connor (THE LAND THAT TIME FORGET, THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT) who went on to direct many US TV shows and movies (He made GOLIATH AWAITS with Christopher Lee and John Carradine the next year).

Star Rory Calhoun had been in the successful TV western "Tales Of Welles Fargo" (1957-1962). 

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