THE BEASTER BUNNY (2014)

Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottonhell, The Beaster Bunny (2014)
Directed by: Spencer Snygg, Zachary Snygg
Written by: Spencer Snygg, Zachary Snygg
Starring: John Paul Fedele, Jon Arthur, Marisol Custodio, Peter Sullivan, Tom Cikoski, Valerie Bittner

THE BEASTER BUNNY (2014)
aka BEASTER DAY: HERE COMES PETER COTTONHELL
Written and Directed by The Snygg Brothers
Available on Prime Video

When a giant bunny starts attacking the residents of a small town of Farnsworth, it’s up to aspiring actress Brenda and work-obsessed Doug at Dog Catchers In The Rye to catch this critter to save the town and prevent the Easter holiday festival from being ruined.

I love daft movies and, without a doubt, creature horror comedy THE BEASTER BUNNY falls firmly into that category. Opening with a scene at a wedding, where a twenty-something guy gives a speech following his father’s marriage to a younger bride, THE BEASTER BUNNY makes no bones about what it is: the cast are here to have fun with a storyline that doesn’t take itself seriously AT ALL and is purely made for laughs. With the wedding speech setting expectations as the film moves forward, we’re treated to our first victim of the Beaster Bunny.

The titular villain is not what you’d expect at all. Looking a bit more like a rat than a rabbit, this Easter bunny looks ravaged and emaciated, with a skull for a head that looks more like something you’d find at the edge of a desert having been gnawed at by vultures. Nevertheless, its bloodthirsty appetite keeps it on the rampage, gobbling up scantily clad ladies and anyone else who happens to venture into the woodlands. There’s no real rhyme or reason as to who gets their leg, arm or other body part consumed by the creature, other than pure unluckiness, but some viewers may delight in the fact that a number of its female victims get their norks out for the cause.

With a corrupt hippy mayor looking to line his pockets, he’ll do anything to avoid a panic. Working in cahoots with the local police, Mayor Farnsworth tries to deter the reporters and crowd of unhappy residents who are concerned about the recent slayings, blaming power tools as the likeliest cause, further lining his pockets after advocating approved tools from a local hardware store he has interests in. With the Easter weekend festivities just around the corner, and with that the opportunity to make shit-loads of green, the idea of succumbing to a real threat and causing panic within the neighbourhood would mean a hit to his bank balance. Now THAT he could not live with. And so, the killings continue in more bloodthirsty and hilarious ways.

The local brigade of dog catchers, packed full of young people unable to get a job elsewhere, become a beacon of hope for the town. They spend their lives dealing with all sorts of critters, from cats and dogs to squirrels, so surely a giant bunny would be a walk in the park for them? Whilst work-obsessed Doug is fretting over being made 2nd best dog catcher of the year, his work colleagues are being slaughtered by what is presumed to be a pack of wolves. Doug and new recruit Brenda, a failed creative who’s draining her father’s wallet dry, are sent out to find the creatures responsible. As the two lead characters, their comic relationship works well to drive the story on, with Doug jealous that Brenda has the hots for Hector, the No 1 ranked dog catcher of the year – but not just for the fact Hector is more likeable and attractive than he is, but also for the fact he’s ‘stole’ the crown Doug once had. Childish, self-centred and obsessive, Doug has many faults, but when he comes across the true culprit behind the killings, he desperately needs the town to believe in him just this once to save them from destruction. With everyone turning their back on him, could his crush Brenda have finally found her calling in life and save the day?

With creature puppetry overlayed on the actual scenes themselves to create this mega threat, aided by a splash of practical effects amidst the copious amounts of CGI bloodsplatter and bodily carnage, THE BEASTER BUNNY is a low-budget but high effort horror comedy for film fans looking for something fun and easy to enjoy over the Easter period. The tongue-in-cheek script and screenplay is all about having a blast with the idea, which it wholeheartedly achieves. Take this film for what it is and you’ll have a reet laugh.

Rating: