Girls, I am telling you, you have just GOT to see "Night Of The Lepus." With a cast of actually good actors--Janet Leigh (this was her last film), Rory Calhoun, Stuart Whitman, and Paul Fix--who I hope got paid a lot for their work in this camp classic, it might seem promising. And it is. But they have nothing to do with it.
Sure, Janet gives it her all. But the real honors go to the magnified rabbits, as they appear gigantic, and menace the Arizona countryside, though I am sure this was shot in the California desert, pretty much where "THEM!" was shot.
Cute little bunny rabbits, marching across the screen! I loved it! Not since Laurel and Hardy's "March Of The Wooden Soldiers" has there been such a procession.
And, of course, the rabbits make noise in this.
The only rabbit I ever heard sound from was Bugs Bunny!
When A. J. Finn's novel, "The Woman In The Window," was published, I thought it a decent mystery, and I was completely flummoxed by who the killer was. And then when I heard Amy Adams was cast in the lead, I could not wait.
But I am not sure if the movie made it to the theaters. Because the awful plagiarism scandal broke out about Finn, and truth be told, I am not sure what all the fuss was about, because I could not figure what story had been lifted. Sure, there were familiar tropes--"Rear Window," "Dial M For Murder," "Sorry, Wrong Number," "Wait Until Dark"--but the story stood on its own. Nothing about it seemed to recollect anything else specifically.
Saturday night, this was our second feature, and it was a really solid film. Amy, of course, was the show, and her acting elevated the story. So did Julianne Moore as the mysterious wife, and an almost unrecognizable Jennifer Jason Leigh as the mysterious second wife. I don't want to give the climax away, but though good, it seemed to work better on print, than on film, if not for Amy.
Hons, this was more fun than "Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein," and the Karen Black "Invaders From Mars!" Give me "Julie" any day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a feeling the book has been taken out of publication. If you cannot find it in a user bin, check out the movie. Amy makes it worth it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And even in the rain, darlings, her hair is perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We should all be so lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When my Marine Corps son was stationed in the California desert, they would regularly see enormous rabbits, as well as coyotes, rattlesnakes, and SCORPIONS
ReplyDeleteVictoria,
ReplyDeleteMy sister in the late Sixties, and there was a canyon nearby where we would play. I am sure those creatures were about, but I never saw them.
However, I did meet a kid who had a pet tarantula. He took it out and let it crawl up and down his arm. I wanted out of there so bad.
As for large scorpions, OMG, is the Black Scorpion for real??????????