EDITOR’S NOTE: Night of the Lepus was on the CBS Late Movie on September 13, 1974; October 17, 1975 and June 13 and August 24, 1976.

Based upon Russell Braddon’s 1964 science fiction novel The Year of the Angry Rabbit, this movie pits mankind against mutant rabbits and, well, if you can get past that idea, you’re probably going to love this movie.

Director William F. Claxton and producer A. C. Lyles came from Westerns, which explains the cast of this movie, which includes Stuart Whitman, Rory Calhoun and DeForest Kelley being in the cast as well as the shooting location, the Old Tucson Studios. It does not explain the effects, which are a combination of regular-size rabbits on miniature sets and people dressed in rabbit costumes.

Janet Leigh, who is also in this, told Starlog, “No one put a gun to my head and said I had to do it. What no one realized was that, no matter what you do, a bunny rabbit is a bunny rabbit. A rat, that can be menacing — so can a frog. Spiders or scorpions or alligators, they could all work in that situation, and they have. But a bunny rabbit?! How can you make a bunny rabbit menacing?”

Rancher Cole Hillman (Calhoun) seeks the help of college president Elgin Clark (Kelley) when thousands of rabbits invade his farm after their natural predators, coyotes, are killed off. Roy and Gerry Bennett (Whitman and Leigh) are brought in and they work on using hormones to disrupt the rabbits’ reproduction cycles but their daughter falls in love with the bunny and switches it out; the mutant bunny runs away and pretty much declares war on humanity.

The towns of Galanos and Ajo are eaten by the giant rabbits before the strange team of a drive-in audience and the National Guard trap the gigantic hares in an electrified field that kills all of them. And good news, because regular rabbits — and the coyotes — are back at the end of the movie.

They tried to hide the rabbits on the poster — even changing the title from Rabbits — and then changed their mind at the last minute and gave away rabbit’s feet with the film’s logo on it.

Check out this ad for the CBS Late Movie show from Bill Van Ryn of Groovy Doom and Drive-In Asylum!