Settle In for a Movie Binge This Easter With Our Top 10 Evil Bunnies on Film

Be warned – not all of these rabbits are cute

As Easter approaches, the supermarket shelves begin to groan with the weight of rabbits. Cuddly rabbits, chocolate rabbits, rampant rabbits, all auguring the coming of summer, the replenishment of our glorious fields and woodlands, and our utter delight at the sight of tiny bundles of fluff tentatively lolloping their first furrows in the misty April fields.

For those who aren’t convinced by all this bucolic bilge and want to get down and dirty with the dark truth of bunnydom in all its bloody, sex-obsessed glory, the movies have some alternative leporine facts for your viewing displeasure. Join us as we plunge down a gore-splashed rabbit hole to meet some of the most downright depraved bobtails in the movies.

Thumper – Bambi (1942)
The first time Bambi meets Thumper, the miserable, self-satisfied little know-it-all brutally criticises the tiny fawn’s first steps, doubtlessly imbuing the poor mite with a lifetime of self-doubt. He then makes an utter hash of teaching the future king of the forest to speak, before recklessly taking him skating on the very thin ice without any training or instruction – only luck prevents a second traumatic death in a very short film. Make no mistake, Thumper’s falsely-obsequious nature and complete lack of moral compass makes him one of Disney’s most underappreciated villains.

Harvey – Harvey (1950)
Is the invisible Harvey, best friend to Jimmy Stewart’s bumbling and loveable oddball, a figment of a drunken man’s imagination or the avatar of a tricksy Irish hobgoblin? It’s never entirely clear, but the idea of being followed around your entire life by a man-sized, argumentative rabbit with the power to control time would turn even the most committed teetotaller to booze-fuelled, merciful oblivion.

Giant Flesh Guzzlers – Night of the Lepus (1972)
As if living in Shithole, USA wasn’t bad enough, a rampaging colony of giant, genetically-modified rabbits emerging from the desert to tear out throats and leave enormous poo pellets all over the place must really put a dampener on your day. The sight of fluffy bunbuns lolloping along Main Street, munching from the salad bar in the local diner (they have salad bars?!) and bloodying their muzzles in ravaged carcasses is exactly as terrifying as it sounds, and this 1972 clunker fully deserves to be buried deep in the warren of woefulness.

The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog – Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Who’s that fluffy little white ball of cuteness outside the Cave of Caerbannog, surrounded by human remains? Why, that’s the famed and feared Killer Rabbit, who makes short and bloody work of King Arthur’s bravest knights – tearing off heads with gleeful abandon and the efficiency of a tin opener. All the magic and swordsmanship in the land is nothing in the face of this relentless brute, and only God’s most sacred weapon – the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch – can seal his doom.  

Brother Rabbit – Coonskin (1975)
Brother Rabbit, a small town criminal, rises to the top of Harlem’s fetid underworld by thieving, double-crossing and slaying New York’s most depraved and unapologetic scumbags. A socially-aware retelling of the tales of Br’er Rabbit, Ralph Bakshi’s controversial animation is a product of the febrile 1970s and contains more corruption, racism, perversion and mass murder than a week in the Houses of Parliament. It’s no surprise that it’s the savvy, sneaky and savage rabbit that comes out on top.

General Woundwort – Watership Down (1978)
Massive, toothy, half-blind and psychotic, the arch-villain in 1978’s not-suitable-for-kids kids’ film Watership Down is a nightmarish monster. Not averse to a bit of mass murder to keep recalcitrant rabbits in check, the General is adept at tearing out the throat of any bunny that defies his iron rule over the slave camp of Efrafa. In his final onscreen moments, bloodied and rabid, he gears up to battle an escaped farm dog ten times his size. I wouldn’t bet against him.

Horror Bunny – Akira (1988)

It all starts so innocently, as the protagonist wakes up in hospital to find a tiny, cute toy bunny bouncing playfully around on his bed with an equally cuddly bear and a toy car. Seconds later though they’ve grown to giant size, are oozing unidentified white liquid, and smashing up the place like toddlers overdosing on skittles. It’s only the sight of Akira’s blood that sends them back to whatever hellhole they came from.

Harry – Meet the Feebles (1989)
Harry, the star of Peter Jackson’s filthy adults-only Muppets Show, is a sex-obsessed pervert whose rampant romping may have landed him in a sticky situation. Pus-ridden boils spread across his body, his libido plummets and he covers the stage with chunky, carrot-flecked vomit. Even if it transpires that he doesn’t have “the big one”, his head is blown off by an enraged hippo with a machine gun regardless, which is certainly one way to make a mark on the stage.

Frank – Donnie Darko (2001)
“I’ve been watching you” intones Frank, the creepiest rabbit in movie history who may also be a time-travelling demon sent to torment the troubled Donnie to his doom. Obviously. With a face that would certainly see him forcibly ejected from a kids’ party, a penchant for arson, and a glowing eye that speaks of a condition far more worrying that myxomatosis, he’s definitely not the bunny you’d want blinking silently at you from the cage in your living room.

The Rabbit Family – Inland Empire (2006)
David Lynch’s last movie is wilfully obtuse and deeply creepy, and some of its most unnerving moments focus on a TV show detailing a family of anthropomorphised rabbits wearing human clothes and going about their daily chores in a dark, depressing suburban living room. There’s an ominous undercurrent to their strange, non-sequitur conversations, though whether Lynch is using rabbits to represent the animalistic baseness of life, the dearth of quality television, or just the bizarre wanderings of his own strange mind is anyone’s guess.