Night of the Lepus (1972)

The 1970s saw a revival of a '50s staple: giant animals attacking. Unlike earlier, they decided they didn't need to build models or put guys in rubber suits. There was a new way of doing things: take a real animal, dress it up a bit and film it walking around miniatures. No muss and no fuss. Well, except for the fuss that animal rights activists threw about the obvious mistreatment of the animals, including gluing things on to them and doing stuff to force them to perform. As far as I know that didn't happen in Night of the Lepus , as all the "blood" on the big, hulking, frightening creatures is ketchup. There are a few scenes where I questioned what was happening to the bloodthirsty beasts they filmed, galumphing their way through the Sonoran Desert to reek havoc among our dusty backroads communities. Even the posters show strange eyes looking out of the darkness, huge fangs and Janet Leigh fleeing what must the most terrifying creatures on the face ...