Leprechaun (1993), Lookback/Review

Directed by Mark Jones

It is a holiday and you know what that means! Ethan digs up some awful horror film that just so happens to be linked to the holiday. And in this case, Ethan has dug up one of the worst horror franchises in film history. Leprechaun.

We reviewed the first Leprechaun film (not to be confused with the other SIX movies) made in the early 1990s. As you begin watching this film, note that it stars a young pre-Friends Jennifer Aniston. The only unfortunate part is that she isn’t killed off immediately because she is just awful in this role. And her character is, just, really unlikable. Throughout the film you may find yourselves praying that the Leprechaun just gnaws her legs off or something similarly awful. We get pretty close to seeing this happen but no cigar.

And this movie sucks so much you’re probably going to hope he shows up to your house to put you out of your misery as well. What is so bad about this movie, you may ask. Well the fact that it is a St. Patrick’s Day themed horror movie should be enough to tip you off that this isn’t going to be an Oscar winner. Who knew? But it isn’t really bad enough to be campy either. It ends up in the awkward middle area where it is just a bad movie. And that’s not an area you want to end up in, as a horror film.

 

The plot revolves around a very angry Leprechaun looking for his gold. He escapes his prison (apparently kept at bay by a menacing four leaf clover) and begins to terrorize the family that has just moved in. He is weak because he has been locked away for so long. The only way he can build strength is to bite people (your guess is as good as ours). There is some rainbow chasing that ends in two of the painters getting a bag of the Leprechaun’s gold. And one of them decides to “test” the gold to see if it is real. You know. By biting it. Just like in the movies. Of course this ends badly when he swallows it. So the Leprechaun begins to terrorize the family in order to get his gold back. And they think they’ve got him at bay. Except. he’s missing a piece of gold that is currently floating around in the painter’s stomach. 

There ends up being an epic chase and a four leaf clover murder scene. We told you there were five more of these movies, so don’t weep. There is more of this little, green bastard to go around.

If you can’t tell, we thought this film was pretty awful. It has a little element of camp, but not enough to make it enjoyable. And the costume isn’t that scary. It looks like Chucky went to a St. Patrick’s Day parade. And with the size of this guy you have to wonder why they don’t just…kick him. (Even though he IS played by Warwick Davis, who we are fans of and is currently starring in Jack the Giant Slayer.)

The acting is on par or worse than most Sy-Fy originals. The only really enjoyable part is getting to see Jennifer Aniston bit by a Leprechaun. That’s not a sentence we ever thought we’d be writing, but there it is. We have heard that the series gets scarier as it goes on. Because this movie barely got any jumps out of us at all. It was more silly and boring than funny and scary. And the backstory wasn’t very well done. That’s right, we have no love for the Leprechaun.

If you’re into a stupid, gimmicky horror film for the weekend, grab your Guinness and Lucky Charms and watch Leprechaun. But don’t get your hopes up. 

Den of Geek rating: 2 out of 5 Stars