Director: Tony Jopia
Cast: Caroline Munro, Gary Martin, Kristofer Dayne
Production Company: Great Dayne Entertainment
Runtime: 108 minutes
Rabbits can be cute, cuddly, and surprisingly murderous. At least, that’s how they act in Tony Jopia’s Cute Little Buggers (2017). Jopia is also the director of Deadtime (2012), Cry Wolf 3D (2015), and Dawning of the Dead (2017).
In the movie, hostile aliens use genetically-altered rabbits to capture women and spread their progeny. A group of local villagers band together to fight against the deadly oryctoagus cuniculus. Will they be able to defeat the invaders and save the countryside?
The special effects are excellent, and there are plenty of them. There’s a nice mix of digital effects and practical ones as well. The makeup and prosthetics used for the aliens really stand out as a high point. They have a distinctive look that make them fun to watch.
The movie has no problem dipping into themes that are common to a lot of other killer creature movies. For example, the town’s chief inspector blindly denies that a savage animal may be on the loose, since that might ruin the summer ball. That’s clearly a wink at Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975).
The best thing is that the movie is genuinely funny. There is a large cast filled with oddball characters that are all easy to like. The aliens were on a Power Rangers level of evil, which I enjoyed quite a bit. The acting is intentionally over the top, giving us many memorable moments.
The comedy in the film is along the same lines as that seen in Peter Jackson’s Braindead (1992) and Bad Taste (1987). It’s also easy to draw comparisons to other mutant animal films like Night of the Lepus (1972), Black Sheep (2006), and Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010).
Caroline Munro has a nice cameo as a fortune teller named Mystic Mary. Munro has appeared in a lot of great genre films, including Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972), Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974), Maniac (1980), and The Last Horror Film (1982).
The film zestfully embraces many B movie conventions. There’s plenty of carnage and nudity, strange monsters, and the threat of an alien invasion. Lovers of science fiction films from the 50s should be pleased. Cute Little Buggers is an outrageous good time. Tally Ho!
– John Migliore
For more information on the film, check out the links below…
Indie Horror Online 