Night of the Lepus (1972)
Corny but totally fun cheesy horror flick about giant, killer rabbits, naturally. Lepus is the Latin term for rabbit. Apparently the producers didn't want to give away the fact that it was about killer rabbits when that's the main draw to this movie. Anyhow, regular rabbits are out of control, wreaking havoc on farmers' crops and such, and naturally overpopulating the area. So, two scientists, the married couple Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh, with their daughter in tow, come up with a serum meant to control the overpopulation. But, the daughter becomes unknowingly responsible for the whole debacle when she switches rabbits so she can have one of her own and she picks a rabbit injected with the wrong serum, who promptly gets away and starts making giant rabbits.
What follows is pretty hilarious, although not mean to be. We have tons of giant bunnies barreling their way through miniature sets, quick shots of men in rabbit suits savaging victims, people trapped in a cellar shooting through the ceiling, with bunnies with fake blood suddenly flying into the air, obviously with an invisible string wrapped around their bodies, pulling them. Good times. A cast with Whitman, Leigh, Rory Calhoun, DeForest Kelley (with hilarious long sideburns and mustache) and Paul Fix. all perform with a straight face. I really like this flick, in a MST3K kind of way. In fact, I'm wondering why they never tackled this one. Recommended, if you're in the mood.
Gentlemen Broncos (2009)
From the man who wrote and directed
Napolean Dynamite comes this same style of comedy. In other words, weird characters, quirky situations, some deadpan acting, and lots of laughs. We have Benjamin (Michael Angarano), a young writer who is still living with his mom, Judith (Jennifer Coolidge), a struggling clothing designer. Benjamin takes his unpolished novel to a writer's convention and goes to a class "taught" by a puffed-up, ludicrous wrtier, Chevalier (Jemaine Clement) who promises prizes to whoever's manuscript a "panel of jurors" find to be the best. Of course Chevalier is the sole member of the panel and he rifles through the manuscripts to find something to steal as his work is no longer drawing interest from publishers. And Benjamin's story is naturally the one he steals and changes enough to make into his own story to sell. It's up to Benjamin, his friends (who've made a really bad amateur movie from his manuscript), and even his mom, to help stop Chevalier. It's all great fun but the best part of this movie by far is what we see when Benjamin's work is read. We see Samuel Rockwell as his hero, Bronco, who is all buffed up, with wild, unruly hair, who is outrageous to say the least. I don't want to give away the dialogue that Rockwell says but I was laughing from the moment he opened his mouth and the moment I saw his getup. The fantasy/sci-fi scenes are as cheesy/hilarious as possible and really make the show. Also, we get the treat of Chevalier's ripoff reading of Benjamin's book being seen from Chevalier's point-of-view, with Rockwell and the same characters changed and not for the better. If you're looking for something offbeat and goofy, this is your ticket.