Leprechaun Triple Feature (DVD)
Steve Barton
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Reviewed by Uncle Creepy
Starring (Leprechaun) Warwick Davis, Jennifer Aniston, Ken Olandt, Mark Holton; (Leprechaun 2) Warwick Davis, Charlie Heath, Shevonne Durkin, Sandy Baron; (Leprechaun 3) Warwick Davis, John Gatins, Lee Armstrong, John DeMita
Directed by (Leprechaun) Mark Jones; (Leprechaun 2) Rodman Flender; (Leprechaun 3) Brian Trenchard-Smith
Distributed by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Faith and begorrah! Lionsgate has released another horror three-pack that is now worth its weight in cursed gold! Well … sort of. If you were hitting cinemas on the regular in the early Nineties, you would no doubt have run into a little flick called Leprechaun. For three consecutive years starting in 1993, this little bastard was carving a path through stupid teens with reckless abandon. So other than the gore, what was the appeal? Warwick Davis, or — as I lovingly refer to him — the king of tiny evil. He took this character, ran with it, and made it something special. Don’t get me wrong; these flicks are far from genre milestones, but they were, and still are, some pretty decent guilty pleasures. That is until 1997 when the powers-that-be decided to launch the little bugger (like so many other horror icons) into space for absolutely no reason at all. Talk about jumping the shark. If you’re like me, this franchise ended with Part Three, and that’s all we have here, just the first three movies. Let’s forget about the creature’s intergalactic jaunt and two trips to Da Hood, shall we? Good!
It all started with the original Leprechaun, starring a very young Jennifer Aniston turning in a performance that I’m sure won’t make her résumé any time soon. After his pot of gold is stolen (a cardinal sin), a Leprechaun comes to America to take back what’s rightfully his. Unfortunately for him, he ends up imprisoned in a crate filled with four-leaf clovers, his version of Kryptonite if you will. Fast forward ten years, and our captive creature is accidentally freed to begin his bloody rampage of retribution. Good thing for us someone ends up being real handy with a slingshot. I shit you not. Thus ends chapter one.
The second film is so bizarre it’s hard to come up with an accurate description. Bear with me. On his 100th birthday our tiny antagonist gets to choose a bride. All he has to do is make her sneeze three times and she’s his. Of course things get screwed up so old Leppy has to now wait for his 200th birthday, which brings him right up into our modern times awakened and horny. But wait! All is not lost! The Leprechaun finds the descendant of the chica he was courting and decides to pick up where he left off. He just has to get rid of her boyfriend. Yet again he is thwarted, and we’re off to part three.
Ah, Vegas! So many lights! So many sounds! So many gold coins! It’s a Leprechaun’s paradise. After being turned to stone via a magic necklace, the Leprechaun ends up in Sin City only to have said necklace removed by an unassuming antique store owner. That’s it! He’s up and more pissed than ever. One by one he hunts down the people who have stolen his gold until he meets his bitter end at the hands of an amateur magician.
Is there a running plot? Not really. Does any of this makes sense, or better yet, could any of it be considered even slightly coherent? God, no. The Leprechaun flicks work in their own darkly amusing ways. You wouldn’t go out of your way to watch one, but you’re not likely to turn one off once you run across it.
In terms of extras, there’s nothing here but the trailer for each film, but at less than fifteen dollars (or cheaper if you shop around), can you really complain?
So there ya have it, lads! Some of horror’s lucky charms! Get ye some ale, roll up ye leafy green clovers, and have ye’self some fun.
Special Features
3 1/2 out of 5
Special Features:
1 out of 5
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