Leprechaun (1993)

I can summarize the film in one word: BAD. Or two words: VERY BAD. Bad acting, bad story, bad dialogue, bad effects, bad film. Everything happens by chance and nothing is justified. This has no entertainment value whatsoever, it's hard to believe it spawned several sequels. The writer/director had some ideas but didn't know how to gel them together to make any sense.

One of the most genuinely jarring and confusing things in the world of film is the shocking amount of people don't "get" the highly entertaining but problematic 1993 release "Leprechaun." It's honestly dumbfounding. The movie is constantly tossed around by wannabe- elitists like a joke, while they scoff and smirk while quipping "How can a movie about a killer leprechaun be scary?" It's the go-to every single time someone tries to put together a list of bad horror movies. And it's generally looked down on as a complete and utter failure due to lacking any real thrills or shocks and having such an inane concept.But honestly... How do people not understand that this is a comedy? It's a movie about a wisecrack-spewing, psychopathic leprechaun, for god's sake! It's most well-known sequel takes place in "tha hood"! If your tongue is not planted firmly in your cheek, you're not watching it correctly."Leprechaun" of course follows an evil Leprechaun (played delightfully in campy performance by Warwick Davis) who sets his sights on a young woman named Tory (Jennifer Aniston) and a group of contract workers lead by Nathan (Ken Olandt), who are fixing up the farm house where Tory is staying with her father for the Summer. Obsessed with getting back his pot of gold that was stolen by dim-witted contractor Ozzie (Mark Holton) and his 12-year-old friend Alex (Robert Hy Gorman),the leprechaun starts to pick off townsfolk one by one in a bloody and hilarious war to get back what is rightfully his. And so our heroes must band together and try and solve the mystery of where this little green menace came from... and how to stop him once and for all!Written and directed by Mark Jones, the film is genuinely quite funny at times and has a really light tone. He keeps the humor flowing quite well, and even when the film tries on occasion to throw some actual scenes of horror at the audience, it never goes too far. Jones' characters are quickly defined and are endearing enough to make you want to root for everyone's safety. The dim-witted Ozzie in particular is very likable with his innocent heart and good intentions, and you'll definitely also get a kick out of the foul-mouthed young Alex for sure. For being such a low budget release (rumored to cost less than a million dollars), the production is also relatively stylish and there's some nifty effects and adequately revolting sequences of blood and gore to keep the horror crowds happy.The cast is a lot of fun. Warwick Davis is just perfect in the role of the devilish bundle of terror, and you can tell he's having an absolute blast with the part, hamming it up just the right amount and throwing in plenty of amusing wisecracks. There's a reason the character became so memorable, and it's Warwick's dedication to the role. Aniston charms in her first major starring role and she's very decent in her performance. You can definitely see hints of her immense talent that would later be showcased in more major roles in the future. Ken Olandt is good as Nathan, and although his character is perhaps the most stock, he is well cast and definitely enjoyable. Mark Holton and Robert Hy Gorman end up nearly stealing the show, however. As I mentioned above, Holton is very likable as Ozzie and he's easily the most endearing of our four lead protagonists. And Gorman is a very good child actor and he gets some really fun zingers.However, despite competent direction, great characters and genuinely decent performances, the film does have some big problems that knock off major points. Even though the film is clearly trying to be comedic, it can't quite settle on the proper tone during some key scenes. It occasionally feels a bit too juvenile in some scenes, while feeling a bit too mature in others. It also really gets bogged down in the third act, having to put too much focus on resolving the story and tying up loose ends. It ends up losing that sense of spunk and lightness that made the first two acts so entertaining- to the point that it just stops being fun for the last twenty or so minutes. I also do think that a few of the "horror sequences" feel a bit out of place and conflict with the style established in the rest of the movie. They don't go too far, they just feel a bit inorganic.As it stands, "Leprechaun" is not a great film. But it is a decent bit of fun. It's constant lambasting at the hands of harsh critics and harsher audiences is very unfounded, and it seems that far too many people are not in on the joke of it all. This movie isn't trying to be a great cinematic experience in horror... it's a quirky, comedic bit of insanity with some good laughs and one or two genuine creeps thrown in for good measure. And for my money... it's the best killer- leprechaun movie out there.I give "Leprechaun" an every-so-slightly-above-average 6 out of 10. If you happen to catch it on TV, definitely give it a watch. Just know enough not to take it seriously.

Warwick Davies in his finest horror role as the Irish (but occasionally with slightly cockney accent) blood thirsty, gold coin loving, magic wielding, shoe shining, lucky charm chasing, rainbow loving Leprechaun menace. The story is thus, Dan O'Grady returns from Ireland where he claims to have captured a Leprechaun and won his gold. Thinking he can retire with his wealth he returns home to the USA but the Leprechaun wants his gold back and follows him. The start of the film is in essence a scene setting flashback, it shows how the Leprechaun gets trapped in a box by O'Grady which gets sealed with a four-leaf clover - a Leprechaun's natural enemy of course. Flash-Forward 20-30 years and the house where the Leprechaun is trapped has been sold, the previous owner (O'Grady) has been put in an OAP home as he's old now and has never been the same since the stroke inflicted on him magically by the Leprechaun at the end of the flash back sequence. J.D. has bought the house and along with his spoiled daughter Tory (Jennifer Aniston) the plan is to renovate the house and live in it. Misadventures of the young people lead to the Leprechaun being released to hunt for his gold no matter what happens to the people in his way - as it happens his pot'o'gold has been re-discovered at the end of a rainbow. Blood, guts, shoe-shining and a tricycle chase sequence are only part of this films (lucky) charm. As the film reaches it's climax it's a battle of good vs Leprechaun, who will win?!This film isn't really a horror movie like it promises, the action is weak, the acting is poor, the dialogue is almost embarrassing at times… but it's still very entertaining above all! A lot of people I know who have seen this compare it to other 90's horror however I don't think it's fair, this is more a horror movie in the sense of it being like a "Carry on" movie, occasionally camp, occasionally tongue in cheek but as far from being serious as can possibly be. Now I know what you are wondering, does the Leprechaun win or lose? Spoiler alert) Come back for my review of "Leprechaun 2" to find out.

Spoiler Alert! This movie is for people who love comedy horror films. It's seriously the least scary and most funny film I've ever seen try to be scary. It's so fun seeing the Leprechaun try and kill people that are over half his height. What's even funnier is the kills themselves, there's one where he jumps on a guy to death with a pogo stick. It's nice to see a younger and better looking Jennifer Aniston as the lead female character. It's also nice to see Chubs from Teen Wolf as the dumb brained painter, Ozzy. Out of them all he's my favorite character because he was willing to sacrifice himself for the young boy at the end. I liked this film even though sometimes I don't like the idea of having a killer being somebody that's way shorter than the rest of the characters like seriously, it's not scary. I give this film a 5 out of 10 because it's the 90's when horror movies seemed to get lamer and even more ridiculous.