The Nasty Rabbit

Starring:Michael Terr, Arch Hall Jr., Liz Renay, Arch Hall Sr., Hal Bizzy, Jack Little (III), Ray Vegas, John Akana, Sharon Ryker, Hal Bokar, Richard Kiel, George J. Morgan, LÃ¡szlÃ³ KovÃ¡cs, Jack Little (II)
Director: James Landis
Studio: Alpha Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Not bad for $5.36, but missed it's chance
stereotype battle royale
Submarines, Spies, And Arch Hall, Jr.
What did you expect with Arch Hall Jr.???
90 minutes of cinematic deep hurting...

The Nasty Rabbit
Starring: Michael Terr , Arch Hall Jr. , Liz Renay , Arch Hall Sr. , and Hal Bizzy
Director: James Landis
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Deadwood '76
Sadist
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ASIN: B0000AGWMU
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Customer Reviews:

Not bad for $5.36, but missed it's chance.......2007-05-28

There are about 30 minutes of humor spread through the movie. It has a similar plot line to the Abrahams - Zucker "Top Secret!" that of an Elvis like guy who is really a Gov't agent. Somewhere in this mess is the potential of a funny movie, but is never brought to realization.

stereotype battle royale.......2007-03-18

NASTY RABBIT (1964) a.k.a. SPIES A-GO-GO
directed by James Landis
approx. 90 minutes

This is a strange movie about international spies during the "Cold War". A group of spies travel to America in an attempt to track a Soviet agent who is delivering a biological weapon that is concealed inside of a timer which is worn around a rabbit's neck. The spies are all total caricatures- the Mexican spy is a goofy Pancho Villa type, the German is a Nazi, the Japanese spy is so nearsighted he falls over throughout the movie and for some reason the Israeli spy is a dwarf. The Soviet spy is a drunken doofus who attempts to seduce the female British agent. When the rabbit escapes, the spies search far and wide for the furry animal who is of course a threat to national security. Strangely, all of this takes place on a dude ranch that is secretly operated by American cowboy spies and visited by a rock star spy. To give you an idea about the type of humor in this movie, when the spies bump into each other kazoo sounds and slide whistles are played.

Perhaps the funniest thing about the movie is that the rabbit itself has a few lines.

Submarines, Spies, And Arch Hall, Jr........2005-12-19

"The Nasty Rabbit" is a comedy-thriller made to showcase the talents of Arch Hall, Jr. Some people allege that this is his worst movie, and while it may be his most inane movie, I don't think it's his worst by a long shot.

The plot concerns using a biological warfare agent in a canister that for some reason is attached to the neck of a talking rabbit in a blue plastic box. The idiot Soviets (remember this was made in 1964) are trying to plant the rabbit in a magnetically anomalous area on the continental divide, which will kill everyone in the US within seven hours (somehow). The Russian sub drops off a master spy disguised as a half Irish, half Indian cowboy trying to fit in on a ranch that is conveniently owned by a US secret agent. Also convenient to the plot, Arch Hall, Jr. shows up to perform on the ranch, but it's all a clever ruse: Arch is "Agent Y" of the FBI.

In what can only be regretfully compared to the Oktoberfest scene in "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" a slew of spies (England, Israel, Mexico, Germany, and Japan are all represented) converge on the ranch trying to stop the horrible bacteria. Of course Arch manages to put an end to the horror (with a thermos full of dry ice) after singing a few rank songs. This is an interesting look at 1960s perceptions of the world, because the stereotypes of all the characters may be stronger in this film than in any other movie ever. Watch especially for the German with the monocle and the near-blind, flatus-besieged Japanese soldier.

I gave the film three stars: it is quite poor on any conventional scale, but I believe the period camp value moderates the awfulness of the material to a large degree. Fans of Arch Hall, Jr. will love this film; all others will tolerate it or laugh at it (for all the wrong reasons) depending on their disposition.

What did you expect with Arch Hall Jr.???.......2005-02-22

Looking at some of the poor reviews here I just gotta shake my head. What exactly were these people expecting from "Nasty Rabbit"? It stars Arch Hall Jr.!! You should have known going into this thing that it would most likely resemble "The Choppers" more than it would "Citizen Kane". If I were to criticize "Nasty Rabbit" for anything, it would be that Arch Hall Jr. is only on screen for about 15-20 minutes of the total movie. "Nasty Rabbit" is probably Arch Hall Jr's worst film, and that is saying something, but it was still enjoyable, in that "so bad it's good" kind of way.

90 minutes of cinematic deep hurting..........2004-09-08

Awhile back I did a little research on the career of Arch Hall Jr., after seeing him in The Sadist (1963), which I thought was pretty good, despite the fact that Arch hall, Jr. starred in it, and found The Nasty Rabbit (1964) showing up in his credits. I read a little about it, and my bad movie instincts started to register with the more I read (I actually enjoy the occasional bad film, as I feel it stokes my appreciate of better films). Curiosity finally got the better of me, along with a low priced DVD, and I picked it up. Little did I realize just how wretchedly awful this movie was, probably the worst I've seen in a long time...and I've sat through Dan Aykroyd's abysmal Nothing But Trouble (1991).

This steaming, offensive, pile of celluloid was directed by James Landis, who also did The Sadist. I enjoyed that film, so I can't really lay all the blame on him, but he gets a lot of it...the film was co-written (two writers?) by Jim Critchfield, writer for the classic Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends, and one can sense a smidgen of the humor that made that show so wonderful trying to push through here, but never quite making it...the second writer, Arch Hall Sr., a man of many hats, writer, producer, actor, director, composer, etc. but the one film to his credit that stands out and illustrates that Arch Hall Sr. is probably the main culprit is the fact that he wrote and directed the abominably bad Eegah (1962), starring James Bond's Richard Kiel (he's in this one, too) as a caveman who gets thawed out in modern times, and pursues woman for mating purposes or such. If you've witnessed the horror of Eegah, then you might be prepared for the cinematic hurting here.

The film stars Arch Hall Jr. (nepotism in action) as rock and roller/secret government agent Britt Hunter (sounds like an Elvis movie, but I doubt even he or Colonel Tom would have lacked the sense to touch something this bad). There's a number of other `actors' in this drecky mess, but I'd prefer not to list them, and I get the feeling they'd probably thank me. I think back in the early 60's Arch Hall Jr. was being groomed by someone (I'm guessing his father) to be some sort of teen idol, as he could act (kinda), play geetar, and even sing (if you can call it that...caterwaulin' really isn't a form of singing to me), and even appeared half decent looking, despite the fact that his normally scrunched face seem to indicate he suffered a perpetual case of constipation. In terms of teen idolness, I would probably list him quite a few rungs below that of a Bobby Sherman or an Edd `Kookie' Burns.

So what's the movie about? Well, it seems the Russians are planning to release a deadly vermicious (their word, not mine) bacteria in America, and they've decided to encase it in a time-release capsule tied around a rabbit's neck. Why a rabbit's neck? I have no friggin' idea. A cadre of secret agents from around the world are interested in getting their hands on the rabbit, along with Britt Hunter (Hall Jr.). Nearly the entire film takes place on a dude ranch, as the Russian super spy is suppose to release the rabbit at some nearby location, for maximum dispersement of the bacteria, thereby wiping out the U.S. population. Whatever...that's pretty much it...the film is meant as a comedy, but I laughed not once throughout its' excruciatingly 90 minute running time. The main comedic elements were supposed to be in the form of completely exaggerated stereotypes of various foreign individuals, but I found it all to be rather embarrassing. I'm no politically correct freak, and I know this type of thing was more common and accepted 30 or 40 years ago, but even back then I couldn't help feel it was probably a bit much for people to take. We've got the German spy with the monocle and WWII helmet, the Mexican spy with a big, greasy mustache and oversized sombrero, and the Japanese spy, with the squinty eyes and round Tojo glasses, all replete with the most awful accents I've ever heard, to name a few. The dialogue is putrid and horrifyingly boring, the running gags stale beyond belief, and not one likeable character in the bunch. The only scenes I enjoyed (beside the end) were the ones were they were hitting each other on the head. I kept hoping for a lethal blow to occur, but no such luck. I can only relate the comedy here to that of the Three Stooges movies made near the end of the Stooges career, the ones with Curly Joe DeRita, but much, much worse. Someone really went nuts with the sound effects throughout the film, an aspect that became annoying very quickly. I think some of the worst lines in the film were attributed to the rabbit, as the makers of this film thought it might be funny to dub a chipmunk voice for it at certain points, with the lamest, most eye-rolling lines you've ever heard. Did I mention the movie runs 90 minutes? Part of that is taken up with a couple of musical numbers by Arch Hall Jr., and his band which actually played pretty well despite Hall, but given that whoever wrote their music lacked even an ounce of originality, I'm not surprised they never enjoy any real fame.

The quality of the print provided (in letterbox format, no less!) on this DVD by Alpha Video suffers greatly the ravages of time. Lines, graininess, and a missing frame or two persist throughout, but I wasn't surprised at the quality (or lack of), as Alpha focuses more keeping the price down more than anything else. No special features, but there is a catalog of Alpha releases, for what it's worth (not much).

Cookieman108

[19 Comedy Flicks] Love Laughs At Andy Hardy, My Dear Secretary, Never Wave At a WAC, Nothing Sacred, the Nasty Rabbit, New Fave, One Week, Parlor Bedroom and Bath, Smallest Show on Earth, Two Weeks to Live, Bashful Bachelor, so This Iswashington, Dreaming Out Loud, Clancy Street Boys, East Side Kids, Little Tough Guy, Spooks Run Wild, Flying Deuces, Stolen Tools

Average customer rating:

[19 Comedy Flicks] Love Laughs At Andy Hardy, My Dear Secretary, Never Wave At a WAC, Nothing Sacred, the Nasty Rabbit, New Fave, One Week, Parlor Bedroom and Bath, Smallest Show on Earth, Two Weeks to Live, Bashful Bachelor, so This Iswashington, Dreaming Out Loud, Clancy Street Boys, East Side Kids, Little Tough Guy, Spooks Run Wild, Flying Deuces, Stolen Tools

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Product Description

DVD FEATURES: DIGITALLY MASTERED, INTERACTIVE MENUS, CHAPTER SELECTIONS, ENHANCED AUDIO 5.1

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