Interview: Director Steven Kostanski Talks LEPRECHAUN RETURNS
Drew Tinnin
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Once Canadian filmmaker and effects artist Steven Kostanski came on board to give the Leprechaun franchise a much-needed shot in the arm, interest in the SyFy sequel should have skyrocketed among horror fans. From his horror comedy short film days with the Astron-6 collective to subversive films like Manborg and The Void, Kostanski and company have been building an impressive resumé in all things genre related. His extensive special effects background and prosthetics work have informed his directing sensibilities and it’s all led to this moment – the chance to finally direct a Leprechaun movie.
A direct sequel to the original 1993 movie, Leprechaun Returns ignores the titular green gnome’s previous adventures in the hood and outer space, but the series as a whole never really cared about continuity, let’s be honest. Below, Kostanski talks about how the decision to pick up where the original left off actually makes the series remain consistent with how inconsistent it’s been over the years, why he came on board to direct, and how his favorite entry in the franchise has changed with age. We also talk about that new Avengers: Endgame trailer. We just couldn’t help it.
Leprechaun Returns will be released by Lionsgate for Digital and On Demand on December 11 and will air on SyFy in March 2019.
DC: First things first. Have you seen the new Avengers 4 trailer and what did you think about it?
SK: Yeah, I watched it this morning. My first comments in our Astron-6 group chat was, ‘Why does it have the subtitle of Highlander 4?’ Otherwise, it looks pretty intense. It’s a lot of shots of people looking sad, so, I feel like it’s still going to be a bit of a downer.
DC: Would you ever want to direct a superhero movie or is Manborg the closest you’re going to come?
SK: I would…it’s something I’ve talked about with the other Astron-6 guys. To do a superhero movie at this point, it would have to be the weirdest, most offbeat possible character, I think, for it to still be interesting. There’s definitely ones out there that, if offered, I would take it.
DC: I was surprised at first, then much more excited for this film once I found out you had directed it. After your original projects and comedy history with Astron-6, how did this originally come to you?
SK: How it all played out was I work at Masters FX in Toronto, it’s a creature effects shop that does creatures and prosthetics for film and TV. So one day our shop supervisor brought in the script for Leprechaun so we started thinking about that as far as the build for it and what kind of stuff a movie like that would have. I was starting to wrap my head around it just as an effects artist and getting excited about building all these gags and things. The next day I got an email from my manager being like, oh, the producers want to talk to you about directing the film. I just thought that was a nice coincidence. I was already in the headspace for it and so it was, like, do I just work on it and make stuff or actually call the shots and make it my own instead of appealing to someone else’s vision. It seemed like a pretty easy decision to make.
Going into it, I already knew Warwick wasn’t available and so I tried to view that as a filmmaking challenge and not as a total deal breaker. I respect his decision for not doing it but also saw it as an opportunity to put my own spin on it and maybe try to inject a fresh perspective on this franchise. Especially after Origins, I felt we really needed a restart after that.
DC: It’s like all your work on The Void and Mother’s Day has led to this moment.
SK: Yeah, it actually feels like a weird sidestep, especially after The Void which is such a dark, serious movie. From my creative standpoint, I really wanted to make something a little more fun and sillier. Technically, the first horror movie I ever got into was Army of Darkness and I don’t know if you’d even classify that as a horror movie. My tastes are way more rooted in the fantasy side of the genre and this movie seemed like such a departure from this current state of ghost movies that are dead serious. I like the idea of making a movie that took itself seriously in that it takes the craft seriously and the work and the artistry of trying to make a film with some scares and tension and gore. But was able to have some fun and be a fun roller coaster.
DC: How much of the prosthetics did you do yourself? Did you want an updated, more sinister looking Leprechaun design? In a way, if Warrick did come back, it’s almost more challenging I would think to do the original makeup and duplicate that. You’ve seen some problems with that in other franchises.
SK: I’m one of those people when they recast Pinhead, I was like what the hell are you doing? This is crazy. With Leprechaun, because it’s not Warrick I think we really gotta change the look. Even though narratively, it’s technically a direct sequel to the original I wanted it to have a different feel. Not necessarily that the character was different but just have him have his own kind of unique vibe. So, I intentionally went in the direction of it’s 25 years later, he’s been in this well, he’s rotten and gross. I kind of went for a Bride of Chucky approach where he’s a little damaged and a little more menacing looking; not as clean and proper as previous versions of the Leprechaun. I wanted all his clothes to be messed up with big holes in his face. Clearly not in a good place. I just found that more interesting as a horror character and it just read better onscreen as well, just making him slimy and nasty verging on a Meg Mucklebones kind of look.
DC: Linden’s great too in the film. You’re both from Winnipeg, right? Is that how you became aware of him for the lead?
SK: No! That was totally a coincidence. We auditioned a bunch of people for the part and his tape…I just felt that he had an energy that could sustain an entire film. The whole movie centers around him so if he doesn’t work, the movie doesn’t work. Linden, he just was so charming and fun and playful but could also dip into being really sinister and kind of mean and scary. It was that range that got me excited. I felt like I could watch this guy for 90 minutes run around and kill people.
DC: They’d already wanted to do a direct sequel to the original, right? Obviously, there’s not a huge amount of canon in the Leprechaun universe that fans are going to be up in arms about.
SK: Yeah, will it’s funny. It’s a franchise known for not being consistent at all and then this is the one. We continued the trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.
DC: What’s your favorite of the series? I’m partial to Brian Trenchard-Smith.
SK: I mean, 3 was the one I grew up on. That was the one that stuck in my brain the most because it felt like it had the most scope to it. I loved the Vegas setting. I was always disappointed by 4. I’m a big fan of putting franchises in space, I quite like Hellraiser 4 and Jason X has its moments. Currently, as my tastes mature, I find that I’m more partial to Leprechaun in the Hood because that one is just off-the-wall insanity the whole time. That was kind of my reference point. We need to make a movie that has this kind of energy and this kind of absurdity.
It felt like, in our current state of horror, we could really use something just preposterous just to mix it up a little bit in the current horror landscape.
DC: I remember talking to Brian [Trenchard-Smith] before and the fifth one that he wanted to do was actually Leprechaun in the White House.
SK: Oh man, now that is a concept that in this current climate would be quite excellent. Now is the window to push for President Leprechaun.
DC: What are you working on right now, any clues?
SK: I’m not allowed to say what it is but it’s definitely going back to my roots. I believe we’ll be doing an announcement on it in the new year. All I’m gonna say is it has lots and LOTS of monsters in it.
DC: If you want to do an exclusive at Dread Central that’d be great so please keep us in the loop.
SK: Oh yeah, for sure. We’ll definitely keep you guys looped in on that.
DC: Okay, so I have your superhero movie, I think. You can get Warwick Davis back when he’s ready to come back to horror after his son is in college. And you bring Linden back and you do a Leprechaun: Into the Spiderverse movie with multiple Leprechauns, past and present.
SK: Oh yeah, I love the idea of there being just a bunch of different Leprechauns. That’s a concept I was saying on set for this one. Why is there just one? Shouldn’t there be a whole bunch? The idea of making a movie where there’s like a hundred Leprechauns, I’d be right into that. That’s my kind of absurdity.
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