After a few years of undistinguished film and TV roles, in 2006, Lisa Barbuscia stepped behind the camera for the first time, serving as both star and executive producer for the sex comedy “Rabbit Fever.” Helmed by TV director Ian Denyer and written by Stephen Raphael, the film is done in a mockumentary format, chronicling the rise of the Rabbit, a vibrator so revolutionary that it threatens to upend British society. Barbuscia stars as Nicky, a self-professed “Rabbit addict” who attends a support group for fellow orgasm obsessives. Tara Summers and Barbuscia’s former “Keen Eddie” castmate Julian Rhind-Tutt appear as a couple whose relationship woes can be traced back to that tricky device, while real-life figures like tycoon Richard Branson, actor Emily Mortimer, and feminist author Germaine Greer appear in talking-head interviews as themselves.
Despite the high-profile status of some of its cast and its eyebrow-raising premise, “Rabbit Fever” has largely disappeared from public record. As of November 2023, it’s not available to stream on any major service, nor is there a DVD or Blu-Ray in print. The film’s overwhelmingly negative reception by critics and audiences may have something to do with that, and the fact that it shares a title with both a 2010 film (an actual documentary about actual rabbits) and a medical condition makes it nearly un-Googleable today. Its longest-lasting artifact, oddly enough, is what appears to be the film’s official website, which hosts a grainy rip of the theatrical trailer and a collection of almost entirely negative reviews.
