Film Review: LEPRECHAUN: BACK 2 THA HOOD (2003)

I’m getting around to reviewing this film now only because this happens to be the only one in the never-ending franchise that I had never seen (until now).  There is not much that can be said about Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood (2003) but I’ll try anyways.  I never really cared for any of the films in the original franchise.  I think the original was very fun and successful only because of actor Warwick Davis as the Leprechaun character.  This can be said of all the films in the franchise including this film and if you’ve seen them all (as I now have) it’s because Davis seems to have so much fun playing the character despite how horrible the films actually are. 

In this film Emily (Tangi Miller) has been told by a psychic that she will come into money which is what she really needs living in the ghetto and her rundown neighborhood filled with crime and gangs.  When she comes across a pot of gold she believes that her fortunes have changed for the better not realizing that the gold belongs to the mythical Leprechaun (Davis) who will stop at nothing to get all his gold back, now Emily and her friends must film a way to rid themselves of the evil Leprechaun while also finding a way to keep the gold as they don’t want to return to the way of life before the good fortune of the gold.

This film is not entirely bad as it does give a better back story to Emily and her conflicted life living in a poor world consumed by compromise upon compromise.  She wants a way out of her old life and sees an easy out.  Miller is also one of the better actors in the entire Leprechaun franchise and Davis is at home in his character.  This being said, the film still has many flaws and will only really appeal to fans of the franchise who have managed to stick through to the bitter end (this being the final film in the Davis franchise).

Film Review: LEPRECHAUN: ORIGINS (2014)

Leprechauns are to be feared.  This is the mindset behind Leprechaun: Origins (2014), the reboot of the long running franchise of evil Leprechaun films that starred Warwick Davis as the menacing Irish creature.  WWE has decided to revive the franchise with a more realistic and gritty take (i.e. See No Evil – 2006) and have brought along wrestling superstar Dylan ‘Hornswoggle’ Posti as the new and redesigned creature. 

Sophie (Stephanie Bennett) and her friends (Andre Dunbar, Melissa Roxburgh, and Brendan Fletcher) are backpacking in the Ireland countryside when a local by the name of Hamish (Garry Chalk) leads them to an out of the way area not traveled by tourist.  Sophie is taken in by Hamish’s stories and believes this detour will be good for her studies in Ireland history.  Unbeknownst to them Hamish has more nefarious plans as Sophie and her friends soon realize that they are the latest sacrifices to the fabled leprechaun who haunts all the nearby lands.  Now they must escape not only the claws of the leprechaun but the clutches of Hamish and his people who will not allow anyone to disrupt the sacrificial slaughter.

Written by Harris Wilkinson and directed by Zach Lipovsky there is a lot to like about the film in regards to the smarter than expected characters and the grittier look and fill to the film.  There are even several really good suspenseful moments in the film but what really brings the film down is the repetitive nature of the story which is there just to pad the running time of the film (since they need to stretch the kills out instead of having just one big slaughter).  This being said, there little else to deter this film and it is a good way to kick start a new franchise for those bored with the campy original series.  There is a lot of territory left to be explored in subsequent films and I hope they decide to dig deeper because there just aren’t enough good killer leprechaun films out there.