Leprechaun (1993) Review

CLAYTON'S CREEPY CINEMA!

WEEK 4: CREATIVE KILLERS

Leprechaun (1993)

By the nineties, horror movies had began to go in a downward spiral, with slasher movies in particular running out of steam. It seemed all the best slasher villains had been done, and popular series like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13^th were growing tired. It wouldn’t be until Scream that the sub-genre would be briefly revived, but before Wes Craven redefined horror once again, another attempt was made to create an original, scary, and entertaining slasher villain, which resulted in the bizarre cult favourite Leprechaun franchise. This first film is truly one of the most unusual horror-comedy’s I have ever seen.

The Leprechaun is a mischievous, ugly, and treasure-obsessed creature who has a pot of gold with one hundred gold coins in it. Despite his diligent counting and organization, he manages to lose one of his coins, and goes on a search for it. An old Irish guy has the coin, so the Leprechaun attacks him and tries to get it back, and though he injures and kills the man and his wife, the man is able to trap the Leprechaun in a box using a four leaf clover. Years later, a city girl (played by Jennifer Aniston in her first film role) and her dad move into the now derelict house. Working at the house are three painters—a hunky guy named Murphy, his little brother Alex, and the mentally inept Ozzie—and Ozzie soon discovers the Leprechaun and accidently lets it out. Not long after, Ozzie and Alex find a pot of gold, but Ozzie accidently swallows a piece when he bites it to test its authenticity (not sure how he swallowed it, but who cares, it’s important to the plot!). The Leprechaun sets out to reacquire all his gold pieces by any means necessary, whether through magic trickery or murderous deceit. Ozzie may be in the most trouble, for he has one of Leppy’s coins inside him...

Intended as a comedy horror film, Leprechaun actually does have its scary qualities. If I had been a kid and seen this, I’m certain I would have been terrified by the mischievous and violent creature, but as an adult, I can’t help but laugh at this ridiculous movie. The Leprechaun may seem like an absurd villain, and he is, causing all sorts of mischief, much of it intentionally hilarious. There’s a death by pogo stick, hijacking of a play car designed for toddlers, and imitation of cat noises. I don’t want to give away all the best moments, but I have to mention the ultimate laugh out loud sequence. Leppy runs into a barn and there are bright lights, sawing noises, and much unseen commotion. Everyone stands there waiting to see what he comes out with. You could never have guessed he would drive out on a go-kart with a pitch fork attached to the front. How did he build that in like ten seconds? No one will ever know.

Leprechaun is completely goofy, but it’s also a lot of fun. Five sequels were made, growing more and more outrageous as the series progressed, but you really need to look no further than the original. It’s campy, silly, and downright hilarious.