Intensity	Stupidity:Nudity Ratio 7:3	Budget Low

Note: Review updated after subsequent viewing.

Kottentail starts out as a really silly movie. Early on we see a laboratory with a single cage in it and in that cage is a stuffed bunny, and not a realistic bunny, a cute cuddly bunny. When the lead scientist ask if the subject is easily agitated, the stuffed bunny is yanked around the cage on a visible string. The stuffed bunny gets a fair amount of screen time and none of the characters seem to notice. In a case of parallel casting, a Playboy bunny plays the part of a scientist and none of the other characters seem to notice that either. At any rate, the Playboy bunny names the stuffed bunny Fernando and soon forms a bond with him.

You might think that a stuffed bunny (Fernando, not Bridget) detracts from the movie, but it does not. Clearly Tony Urban had almost no money to make this film and using a very faked looking stuffed bunny is brilliant. It sets a tone for the movie. You are not going to be able to "suspend belief" with Kottentail and with the stuffed rabbit the director lets you know that this is okay. He has a rather amusing tale to tell and a few good jokes, just go along for the ride and don't sweat the details.

After the Overlook Animal Research Laboratory (I think this is supposed to be a joke along the lines of Toronto Institute of Technical Science) closes one night a couple of animal rights activists break in to free the animals. They are disappointed that there is only the one animal, but the release him anyway and patiently watch as he stop motion runs into the woods. Unfortunately, Fernando soon crosses paths with Hans Kottentail who has just had his advances spurned by one of the local sorority girls. A vicious fight ensues with six-foot tall Hans losing to a 10-inch tall stuffed rabbit. Back at the lab, the Playboy bunny is reading a file folder containing classified information. Even though the document clearly states that the drugs they have been giving the bunnies cause violent behavior and bites from the bunnies can cause mutations and death in humans, she makes no connection between Fernando and the test subjects. She does manage to rescue Fernando after he has been recaptured by Animal Control. The rescue involves removing most of her clothes and tying the Animal Control officer to his chair with her nylons.

Soon, Hans has mutated into a giant rabbit and kills a couple of locals. Upon hearing the descriptions of an eye witness, the police round up three people wearing bunny costumes but can't make a positive ID. After a few more deaths, five girls band together to get the monster. The girls include a reporter, a hooker, a cop, a sorority girl and the scientist. After a persuasive bit of logic by the hooker who thinks that a half man, half rabbit creature will be attracted to girls dressed like rabbits, all five girls don abbreviated bunny outfits and wait to spring a trap on Kottentail. However, as none of them thought to bring along any weapons whatsoever, things do not go well for the girls.

Overall, I liked the first two thirds of the movie, but in the end it turned into a bad slasher movie with rather unimaginative demises for the girls which played against the rather silly theme of the movie up to that point. I would have much preferred to see the scientist bring along Fernando to the final shootout and have a knockdown drag out between him and Kottentail. With some imagination and editing, this could have been a very funny scene and would have been more in keeping with the the rest of the movie. Possibly he is making a joke about final girls. His five heroines are some of the more common female types in movies, though they do tend to have a high mortality rate in horror movies already. One is a hooker for instance. Typically hookers don't survive horror movies and if one does, then about ten others don't. Another is a journalist. These girls tend to survive if they are the main character. When they are not the lead they tend to be exposition guys with high mortality rates. Frequently they follow up on a lead that often moves the story along and just as frequently results in their death. The female rookie cop also does not typically survive many movies. It is almost a given that she will be killed in any movie with a male lead. Much like the journalist character, she falls into two categories with high mortality rates; female cop and rookie cop. Bridget plays the "unwitting scientist". Usually this character does not realize that they are working for an "Evil Scientist" and frequently die trying to make amends. And finally we have the sorority girl. Typically the key indicators for survival for a sorority girl are not engaging in sex, not having "something to live for" (getting married soon = death sentence), and a willingness to fight back. The vast majority of deaths in these types of movies involves victims who stand around patiently waiting to be killed, though they do tend to scream a lot.

Even though I did rather enjoy Kottentail, I disliked the ending. A little more nudity from the lead actresses would have helped some, but wireless mikes would have helped more. Apparently they did most of the filming during a hurricane as the dialog on several of the outside scenes can barely be heard over the wind.

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