Review #137: Leprechaun (1993)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Cast/Notable Credits:
Mark Jones (Director): Triloquist (2008)

Warwick Davis (Leprechaun): Leprechaun 1-6, Star Wars ROTJ (1983) Phantom Menace (1999) Ewok Movies (1984 & 1985), Time Bandits (1981), Labyrinth (1986), Willow (1988), Harry Potter franchise, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Chronicles of Narnia 2 (2008)

Jennifer Aniston (Tory): Bruce Almighty (2003), The Break-up (2006), Friends T.V. series

Ken Olandt (Nathan): April Fool’s Day

Mark Holton (Ozzie): Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Teen Wolf 1 (1985) & 2 (1987), The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000), Gacy (2003)

Robert Hy Gorman (Alex):Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (1991), Forever Young (1992), Rookie of the Year (1993)

Shay Duffin (Daniel O’Grady): Titanic (1997), Seabiscuit (2003), The Departed (2006), Beowulf (2007)

Trailer:


Plot:

The Leprechaun rhyme:

Try as they will
And try as they might
Who steals me gold
Won’t live through the night

Where’s me gold?

Daniel O'Grady returns from overseas to his North Dakota country home with his dead mother's ashes and a bunch of crates. Hidden in the vase of his mother's ashes is a bag of gold coins which he had stole from a Leprechaun. Unknowingly to O'Grady, the Leprechaun he stole from stowed away in the luggage with him, and sets his sights on revenge.

While burying the stash of hidden treasure out in the countryside, the Leprechaun kills O'Grady's wife and awaits for him to come home. O'Grady returns home and the confrontation begins. O'Grady manages to trap the Leprechaun in a wooden crate in the basement of the farmhouse with the use of a four leaf clover.

The four leaf clover is the Leprechauns...kryptonite...and drains the Leprechaun of his powers as O'Grady locks him away. During the process, O'Grady suffers a stroke that will land him in a nursing home for the next 10 years while the Leprechaun awaits locked in his crate tomb with a four leaf clover acting as a powerful seal to contain the mythical being.

Ten years later, a man named J.D. Redding buys the farmhouse cheap and hopes to restore it after years of decay. He drags his daughter Tory from California to the house for the summer to help fix the house. Redding hires a couple of locals (Nathan, Alex and Ozzie)to help fix up the place.

Still encased in his crate tomb, the Leprechaun remains trapped in the house's basement. One thing leads to another and the four leaf clover gets blown off the crate, freeing the Leprechaun and bestowing his revenge onto the Redding family and friends.

Ozzie and Alex discovers the hidden treasure after following the end of a nearby rainbow. You know, because there's always a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Ozzie, an autistic fellow, accidentally swallows a gold coin while biting it for authenticity. Alex and Ozzie keep the location a secret and head back to the house.

The Leprechaun makes his appearance to the family and demands his gold be given back. Outside of Alex and Ozzie, no one knows what the hell is going on or what the Leprechaun is talking about. Outraged,the Leprechaun haunts the group.

Eventually after a night of terror, Alex and Ozzie fess up the location of the hidden treasure and gives it back to the Leprechaun. The only problem is that one piece of treasure lays hidden in the belly of Ozzie. Now they must make a choice, kill Ozzie or kill the Leprechaun.

Villain:

Who knew that fury little Ewok named Wicket would become such as vicious little monster and horror icon? I'll admit...Wicket was my favorite Ewok...and Return of the Jedi is better than Empire! But that's another long debate for another time.

Anyways...to say the least, I've been a fan of Warwick Davis and all of his roles. Davis plays the evil, 600 yr old leprechaun, who goes by the name of...The Leprechaun. So big deal, the franchise never invested into getting him a real name.

The Leprechaun is...well...a leprechaun. Wee little people. Midgets. Halflings. Vertically challenged individuals. A short little Irish dwarf wearing green or wee little people. He wears the goofy looking green top hat that everyone associates with St. Patrick's Day. This leprechaun is a little grotesque in looks and teeth. See the picture.

The Leprechaun is obsessed with guarding and counting his treasure (gold) and also has a strange fetish with shining shoes. He'll seek revenge on anyone who dare takes the gold from him or stands in the way of its whereabouts. Where's me gold? He has magical powers that he uses to get his way and protects his gold.

Cast:

Before there was FRIENDS, there was Leprechaun. Surprising how fun little unknown characters in horror movies turn out to be mega Hollywood stars. And that is the case for one lass named Mrs. Jennifer Aniston. Yes, she was starring at the young tender age of 24 at the time. Long before the whole "hair thing" on that dreadful T.V. show. Sorry, but me not a fan here!

Jennifer plays the character of Tory, a young naive California lass who is dragged to North Dakota for the summer by her father to fix up his newly acquired house in the country. She does the typical California whine and moan upon arrival of the dump, but has a change of heart when she falls for the young, stud handyman, Nathan.

SFX/Gore:

An evil killer leprechaun, we're in for fun, blood and guts...right? Don't get your panties in a scrunchy here. Me gold seekin' and protectin' friend only puts down four characters in thy film. Ya see laddie, all them kills were courtesy of some minor characters. Three of which didn't even steal me gold.

Me favorite kill, I guess would be thy coin shop owner. The wee little guy killed him with a pogo stick. Gotta say ya don't see that everyday.

Well Leprechaun didn't come through for its tremendous amounts of deaths in the film, but it does have plenty of silly special effects. His "special powers" revolve around him shooting out weird green spiral haze to obtain things.

I do give the film credit for making the little leprechaun soap box car. As Tory and friends are attempting to escape in a truck that won't start * cough * how original * cough * the Leprechaun heads off to the barn and a minute later he comes out riding the soap box car from hell. It was a simple little metal thing with wheels and a pitch fork mounted on the hood as a ramming device.

TNA:

Not much here, but we do get the lovely Jennifer Aniston in her younger years. It's kinda funny looking back at the super-duper outfits we wore in the early 90's. Jennifer supports those old cut off jean shorts with flower patterns mixed in. That's awesome. Ah...how times have changed. Jennifer Aniston pictured below.

T.Gun Factor:

If you haven't seen Leprechaun...then you're a loser. It's a classic. It's like not seeing The Goonies or Police Academy...at least if you grew up during the 80's. If you're younger than the film, then I'm sorry. You've deprived of a great national treasure.

Okay, its not that great...but its worth it. Leprechaun is filled with funny and silly special effects, chase sequences and goofiness. There's even a scene in the movie where the Leprechaun is going through the kitchen cabinets and finds a * cough * Rip off * cough * version of Lucky Charms and has the Leprechaun taste them and spit them out in disgust.

Unfortunately all of these help to the decline of horror movies during the late 80's and early 90's. People just didn't take horror movies seriously anymore. Think about it. A horror movie about a killer leprechaun. Really? How scary can that be? How can you be scarred of something that doesn't even exist? Or do they? Bottom line...if you haven't checked out this St. Patty's Day classic...then check it out!

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on January 8, 1993 and made $8.5 million at the Box Office ($3.2 million opening weekend)
-Was Trimark’s first movie
-Jennifer Aniston’s first feature film
-Released to theaters on January 1, 1993 making it the years first release
-Filmed in Saugus, CA