Pale as can be. Strikingly red eyes. Sharp teeth. What am I describing? A rabbit, of course. Everyone’s seen rabbits in horror. If you’re not a horror fan, you’ve at least seen a rabbit be rude in a movie.
Whether it be Angel from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or Snowball from Secret Life of Pets, or Frank from Donnie Darko, it’s a classic trope. But… why?
Though the start of the trope is often attributed to 1975’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the first movie to use this trope was actually 1972’s Night of the Lepus, a movie that’s been described as “The Birds, but with rabbits.” Even then, the movie was based on a 1964 book titled The Year of the Angry Rabbit, and there’s also the 1950 adaptation of Harvey, where a man’s tormented by a rabbit invisible to everyone else, so it’s difficult to pin down exactly when the first use of a rabbit as an antagonist is.
It’s pretty easy to figure out why it’s a trope though. It’s a simple subversion. Bunnies, rabbits, hares, whatever word strikes your fancy; they typically are symbols of fertility and luck. Inverting that by placing them up against violence and specifically the loss of life—especially with them as the cause—was the easiest way to subvert that.
However, it’s become so oversaturated that it’s seemingly more common. As I said, it’s even in children’s cartoons now, no longer just attached to horror.
One of the two most notable uses of “scary rabbits” is something you’ve maybe seen—and probably either forgotten or tried to. Watership Down (the 1978 movie, not the book or the 2018 miniseries) is an animated movie that was described simply by VPAA junior Izaya Choice as simply “scary.”
If you don’t know what it is, you’re one of the ones who wasn’t given it as a child. It’s a simple animated adaptation of the 1972 novel of the same name, about rabbits that kill each other when they are forced to find a new home. That’s a very simplified explanation, but you really only need to know that for my purposes. Most thought upon its release (and since) that it’s a children’s movie due to its use of animation and rabbits as the main characters, which has led to many children being exposed to the horrors.
The other most notable use is something a bit darker, Donnie Darko. (Pun fully intended) If you’re a movie person—or a Jake Gyllenhaal fan—you’ve probably seen this mind-boggling movie, and perhaps even if you haven’t, you’ll recognize Frank.
If you haven’t heard of Donnie Darko, it’s a 2001 movie about a mentally ill high-schooler who starts seeing a mysterious rabbit figure talk to him. There’s also stuff about the end of the world, fate, and possible time travel. It’s very confusing.
But doing just a little research into movies with deadly or scary bunnies I managed to find 26, ranging from Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit to The VVitch. I mean, even David Lynch has tried his hand at the trope with his 2002 short-film Rabbits (though he does refer to it as a “sitcom”).
In fact—I would say fun fact but I don’t know if it’s fun to you—but one very low-budget slasher trilogy, the Bunnyman movies, are actually based on an urban legend started in the ’70s that originated in Fairfax County, Virginia! Only a few hours away from here. A newspaper clipping with more information can be found here.
It’s not just movies either, with games like Mr. Hopp’s Playhouse and FNAF, and books like Bunnicula and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac (which was made by the same guy who made Invader Zim which… explains some things), the trope spans genres, media, and decades.
It’s one of the weirder tropes out there, but I must admit, I enjoy it— especially when it’s done well. As a fan of all three individual elements: rabbits, horror, and weird movies, it was practically made for me! It’s fascinating to see how subversions change and can grow into tropes of their own and how film has changed since the ‘50s.
For those interested, on August 5th & 6th, the NARO Cinema will host 2 viewings of Harvey. More information can be found here: Calendar | Naro Expanded Cinema.
MOVIES – Harvey (1950), Night of the Lepus (1972), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Watership Down (1978), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Dreamchild (1985), Summer School (1987), Alice (1988), Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991), Donnie Darko (2001), Cabin Fever (2002), Rabbits (2002), Kottentail (2004), Peter Rottentail (2004), Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill! (2006), Bunnyman (2011), The Bunny Game (2012), Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottontail (2014), The VVitch (2015), Bunny The Killer Thing (2015), Holidays (2016), The Secret Life of Pets (2016), Us (2019), Killer Rabbit (2021), Run Rabbit Run (2023)
GAMES – Murder House (Puppet Combo Game), Mr. Hopp’s Playhouse (Moonbit), Tiny Bunny (Saikono, RUZURA Interactive), Five Nights at Freddy’s (Scott Cawthon), Don’t Starve Together
BOOKS – Johnny The Homicidal Maniac (Jhonen Vasquez), Bunnicula (Deborah Howe, James Howe)
