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New VOD Title from RiffTrax…32 Replies to “New VOD Title from RiffTrax…”Commenting at Satellite News
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Finally!!! DeForest Kelly’s master performance!
I’ve seen this unriffed, it’s bloodier than I expected.
So we finally get the payoff to a 20 year old reference from Mike’s very first episode. The weird part for me is I just rewatched “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die” this morning, mere hours before I heard about the “Lepus” riff…
About friggin’ time!
:rotfl:
I’d love them to do this as a Live show as well!
I saw this when Joe Bob Briggs showed it on TNT in the 90’s. Should be good.
Yay!this is gonna be great!
I have never seen this movie, can anyone tell me if there is any real animal violence in it? Serious question, I know in anything prior to say the 80s, I feel like the animal standards weren’t really up to par. I really want to watch this one because I love DeForest Kelley, but if it is just a bunch of bunny murdering I probably can’t watch….
#8, It’s a bit hard to tell if any actual rabbits were harmed in the making of the film, but the short answer is that you probably won’t be a happy camper watching this, if that’s your thing. In fact, Kevin makes a bit of an extended riff at the ending about how many rabbits probably were hurt during production.
Unrelated note: One of the riffs regards the film Blue Thunder, with Bill finally telling Mike that his problem is really with Mutant. I think they mean Nightmare at Noon, another Wings Hauser flick they riffed that involved a protracted (and completely unrelated to the storyline) helicopter chase at the end.
-BC
I’m surprised this movie made it 42 years without being professionally riffed. To #8- If I recall, the very first scene is apparently real b&w footage of farmers killing mass numbers of rabbits which had overpopulated and eaten their crops. The rest of the movie is in the vein of “Food of the Gods”, in which bright paint gets splattered all over the rabbits. A bunch of them die after being electrocuted at the end, but it’s probably all special effects. I don’t know for sure if any died during production or not.
Here’s a review of how Rifftrax took on “Night of the Lepus”, including why this was barely a Bert I. Gordon movie: http://impalergeneral.blogspot.com/2014/02/rifftrax-takes-on-night-of-lepus-or.html
Back during the dust bowl era, coyotes and other predators were wiped out by the dust but rabbits could ride out the terrible storms in their burrows. Thus, they thrived and exploded in numbers, overrunning towns and devouring every crop in sight. I believe that’s what the archive footage is from, as well as the whole idea of rabbits being a menace. There were accounts of armies of people clubbing rabbits day and night until their arms gave out just to keep from being driven from their homes and farms.
I’ve been meaning to ask this, but what does VOD mean?
Brandon,
VOD = Video On Demand
Meaning you can stream it or download and view it immediately, rather than waiting for a physical DVD to arrive.
Video on Demand.
Oh darn, someone already answered.
This one was a joy to watch when I saw it with friends years ago sans professional riffing. Can’t wait to see the Rifftrax version!
@12
Actually, the original novel that this film is based on was set in Australia, where (in real life) non-native rabbits exploded in numbers and produced a practically continent-wide plague of vermin. Their numbers were eventually brought under control by the introduction of myxomatosis, a nasty disease that wiped out the vast majority of the rabbits. So the novel, involving twisted, deformed, omnivorous mutant rabbits, had an ecological-horror theme that sort of extrapolated from actual historical events. (Though apparently it was also sort of intended to be humorous).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Lepus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_of_the_Angry_Rabbit
I’ve never heard of huge numbers of rabbits during the dust bowl; I thought they would have largely starved during the dry conditions without as many plants to eat. I’m curious to know where you found that info!
Now that “Lepus” is crossed of the list of “Films MST3K Totally Should’ve Done”, hopefully we’ll get a VOD of the next one on the list: “The Giant Claw”. They can even make a Transformers joke!
(To explain, Laserbeak in “Dark of the Moon” looks a lot like the Giant Claw. This is mostly evident in the toy.)
Rabbit carnage aside, a very enjoyable riff. They hit all the rabbit tropes except they left out a Trix reference when the giant bunnies rampage through a house. Could have used it for the general store scene too.
@13 Specifically in Rifftrax’s case, VOD means that instead of just buying the audio of the riff, they sell you the video with the audio already added to it., so it’s essentially just like watching an episode of MST3K, sans the skits and puppets.
For those who are worried, they don’t show any actual rabbit deaths. Even in the stock footage there’s no clubbing rabbits…it’s suggested though.
I’ve seen footage of the dust bowl rabbits. It was like watching a missing biblical plague. All flesh is grass, and those were hungry rabbits indeed.
I saw Night of the Lepus when it first came out in theaters. My cousin and I were young enough to think it was scary and fun, but were mostly jazzed by the word “Lepus.”
@18 Interesting. Australia certainly has had a lot of problems with introduced species. To answer, my brother saw the Ken Burns documentary on the dust bowl and described that part to me. I think that’s what he saw. And I think rabbits can live off of roots and tubers underground. But if there were no crops, it seems like there wouldn’t be much point in people sticking around to try to eradicate the rabbits. I dunno….
Hm. I’ll have to look into that; I have a modest interest in odd ecological phenomena, and somehow that one has slipped under my radar.
In the meanwhile, I’m glad they finally riffed this movie. Just the week before I was telling friends about this film and how it needed to be riffed, and now, voila (or viola, as Pearl would say).
“…Lepus” is also mentioned in “The Beast of Yucca Flats”. The last significant shot focuses upon a supposedly expired Tor Johnson and a very young and small jack rabbit wanders into shot (by accident according to most anecdotes) to nuzzle against the hulking wrestler turned “actor”. Mike and the Bots wonder if these are the conditions that lead to “Night of the Lepus”.
(I watched “Yucca Flats” just yesterday, so that’s why I remember it.)
Sincerely,
Bill
Yep, there it is. Go to YouTube and search “dust bowl rabbit drives”. There seems to be a difference on what came first- the rabbits or the dust, but the Ken Burns segment has the rabbits arriving during the dust bowl. It’s a little macabre for animal lovers but we used to raise rabbits for food when I was a kid, so I guess it doesn’t phase me much.
#23, “Lepus”, along with “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, were the two fear inducing films seared into my memory as a young kid in the early 70s.
Oh, I was waiting for this one. Let no one reveal too quickly how many “He’s dead, Jim” and “I’m a Doctor, not a [blank]” gags they did. Leave us to our illusions.
At least until we’ve had a chance to actually see the movie, of course. :-)
This has been my standard answer for the past 15 years to the question “Which movie would you most like to see riffed that they haven’t done yet?”.
Thank you, Rifftrax!
I guess I’ll have to think of a new answer. How about Shatner’s 70’s tv movie ‘Horror at 40,000 Feet’?…then there is always Bert I Gordon’s 1970’s fare ‘food of the gods’.
#30, Unless I am mistaken, Mr. Shatner delt with horror at a mere 37,000 feet. But you are right, that would be a great one for Rifftrax to tackle.
You’re right, I sometimes get my thousands of feet mixed up.