“Your luck just ran out” Synopsis: An evil, sadistic Leprechaun goes on a killing rampage in search of his beloved pot of gold.

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Calamity Brains:

Leprechaun is one among many horror franchises that has a rocky start. Like several others (Demonic Toys and Puppetmaster come to mind), the first Leprechaun movie has a conundrum: how do you make a horror movie with a ridiculous bad guy?

Though the later Leprechaun movies find their stride and strike a better balance between horror and comedy, the original film never quite makes it. It’s impossible to take titular leprechaun Warwick Davis seriously as a threat, yet a lot of the movie centers on escalating tension while the audience waits for him to strike. When we do focus on Warwick Davis, he’s full of snark and one liners, but in between, we’re treated to an overly-dramatic setup for his hijinks. The in between parts of the movie also come across more like a family movie than horror – Tory (Jennifer Aniston) wants to prove to the cute guy painting her home (Ken Olandt) that she’s not useless; Alex (Robert Hy Gorman) and his special needs adult friend Ozzie (Mark Holton) have conversations about fairies. The tone of the movie is therefore very uneven – which, twinned with the fairly slow pacing, makes Leprechaun a rocky start to such a famous franchise.

Still, there are some fun moments to be had, and young Jennifer Aniston shows off her legs an acceptable amount. Leprechaun isn’t in the “I’d skip this if it weren’t in a franchise” category, but it’s definitely something that you mostly sit through to get to the madcap fun of the later movies. Watch Leprechaun with friends, a drink, or both.*

*Or just skip it and go right to our franchise favorite: Leprechaun 4: In Space.

Calamity Brains’ Rating: C
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