It's a good thing Leprechaun is bad. The plot, acting, and special effects are all absurd. Everything comes together to form a great film. Warwick Davis is fantastic as the leprechaun, while Jennifer Aniston excels in her feature film debut. Watch Leprechaun if you like campy horror films. Don't expect to feel scared; instead, expect to laugh.
The depiction of a malicious leprechaun that was done by Warwick Davis has become the stuff of legends. In the movie, the leprechaun is under the impression that a group of people have taken his pot o' gold. He gathers all of his wits and resources to pursue and capture them in the act of hunting. In the meanwhile, the family is looking far and wide for the gold in an effort to appease the leprechaun and prevent him from causing them any more trouble. Davis's portrayal is scary and memorable, making Leprechaun one of the finest horror flicks of all time.
Leprechaun was supposed to be a horror film, but Davis inserted comedy.
The basic premise of every Leprechaun film is this:
Dan O'Grady returns to North Dakota after visiting his birthplace Ireland in 1983, where he abducted a leprechaun and stole his pot of gold. After concealing the wealth, O'Grady finds that the evil leprechaun has followed him down and murdered his wife. O'Grady subdues the leprechaun's talents and imprisons him in a four-leaf clover-encased receptacle. He died of a stroke before he could burn him.
After ten years, J. D. Redding rents the O'Grady farmhouse for the summer with his daughter Tory, who is now a teenager. Contract workers Nathan Murphy, his 10-year-old brother Alex, and their friend Ozzie Jones are helping to paint the farmhouse. When Ozzie is searching the basement, he hears the leprechaun calling for help and mistakes him for a child. He lets the leprechaun out of the box by taking the old four-leaf clover out. Ozzie finds out from the leprechaun that he is an Irish shoemaker who came to America to find his fortune. Ozzie fails to convince the others that he saw a leprechaun, so he sees a rainbow and follows it, hoping to find a pot of gold. Alex follows him because he's afraid Ozzie might hurt himself. A bag with 100 gold coins magically appears before Ozzie. They hide the gold in an old well after Ozzie checks it out and eats a coin by accident, thinking that this will heal Ozzie's brain.
J. D. gets tricked by the leprechaun on the farm into walking into a trap by the leprechaun's disguise as a cat, which causes him pain when he bites his hand. After Tory and the others take the leprechaun to the hospital, the leprechaun leaves on a tricycle. While Alex and Ozzie are checking the gold's purity in a pawn shop, the leprechaun kills the shopkeeper, Joe, for stealing his gold and then escapes after polishing Joe's shoes. A police officer pulls over the leprechaun on his way back to the farm because he is speeding in the go-kart he built for himself. The officer is pursued by the leprechaun into the woods, where the officer is shot and killed. After returning to the farm, the leprechaun begins searching for the pot of gold by polishing the shoes of each he encounters. Following their visit to the hospital, the group returns to the farmhouse. Nathan goes outdoors to check the looting and is injured by a bear trap placed by the leprechauns. In the open air, the mob swarms the leprechaun and beats him senseless with clubs and rocks.
The leprechaun is shot many times after a weapon is discovered in the residence. They attempt to leave the property when it fails, but the leprechaun has wrecked the truck's engine. After destroying the car with the go-kart, the leprechaun terrorizes the group until Ozzie reveals that he and Alex uncovered the pot of gold. Tory retrieves the bag from the well and presents it to the leprechaun. They go to the hospital, certain that the worst has (first published) passed. As he tallies his treasure, the leprechaun learns he is missing the last coin that Ozzie consumed. He confronts them, assuming that they have deceived him, until Ozzie tells them that O'Grady had a stroke and was admitted to a nursing home. By tossing dirty shoes at the leprechaun, the gang diverts his attention, and the leprechaun is compelled to polish the shoes as Tory drives away in her jeep. To learn how to kill the leprechaun, Tory visits the residence.
At the nursing home, the leprechaun pretends as O'Grady. The leprechaun chases Tory to an elevator and throws O'Grady's bleeding body down the elevator shaft as Tory flees. Before passing away, O'Grady advises her that the only way to kill the leprechaun is with a four-leaf clover, which happens to grow in a vast area outside the property. Tory returns to the home in search of a clover, but the leprechaun attacks and Nathan and Ozzie defend her. The leprechaun is gravely injured while trying to get the last gold coin, which Ozzie admits to having eaten. Alex ties a four-leaf clover found by Tory to a wad of gum and shoots it into the leprechaun's mouth, forcing him to melt away before he can kill Ozzie. Despite plunging into the well, the skeleton of the leprechaun emerges and says, "I want my gold." Nathan uses gasoline to fire both artifacts after forcing the leprechaun back into the well. Tory is reconciled with her father, marries Nathan, and they have a child when the cops arrive. While the cops examine the well's debris, the leprechaun says he won't stop until he recovers every last piece of his fortune.How well did Leprechaun (1993) do in theaters?
Leprechaun was released in 620 theaters on January 8, 1993, and earned $8,556,940 in the U.S. In April 1993, Vidmark released it on VHS and sold 100,000 copies.
Leprechaun debate clarified
In the months preceding up to the film's premiere, Trimark teamed with the National Basketball Association, American Stock Exchange, and Domino's Pizza and Subway to promote the movie. The collaboration with Domino's and Subway was especially contentious, since many people thought that the franchisees were being exploited. However, the marketing strategy was effective, and Leprechaun remains a cult favourite to this day.
Did Leprechaun have any cinematic sequels?
The next year, Leprechaun 2 came out. In it, the Leprechaun goes to Los Angeles to find a new pot of gold. In Leprechaun 3, which takes place in Las Vegas, the Leprechaun gets his hands on a magical coin that makes his wishes come true. Leprechaun 4: In Space is a bit different from the first three movies because it takes place on a spaceship and has the Leprechaun fighting aliens. In Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood, the fifth and final movie in the series, the Leprechaun goes back to his roots in the inner city of Los Angeles. Even though most critics didn't like the Leprechaun movies, the series has been very successful and is still a cult classic.Leprechaun facts
Several sequences had to be reshot since producers wanted to appeal to older audiences.
It's well-known that George Lucas had a role in casting Warwick Davis in Willow. What's less well-known is the reason why. According to reports, Davis was under contract with Lucas and couldn't feature in the film without the director's permission. As a consequence, he was granted a "special thanks" credit at the conclusion of the film. This little-known truth makes the movie much more appealing for horror movie enthusiasts. It's simply another example of Lucas's effect on popular culture.
At first, the leprechaun was intended to run away and return to Ireland. However, Warwick Davis, the Irish actor cast in the role of the leprechaun, was unable to begin filming because he lacked the proper work visa. Davis required a visa in three days to shoot the last scene, which is a very unlikely occurrence. Davis was able to wrap up shooting on time because to the efforts of Vice President Dan Quayle's staff. For all his hard work, Quayle was given a "special thanks" credit at the film's conclusion.
Warwick Davis regretted creating the picture, but Anniston's TV popularity led to more rentals and a lengthy series of sequels. Warwick reportedly liked it.
Leprechaun was Jennifer Aniston's first picture.
Leprechaun is a must-see for every aficionado of the horror genre. Warwick Davis and Jennifer Aniston provide outstanding performances in what is perhaps one of the few horror flicks that manages to be both hilarious and spooky at the same time. In spite of its derivative narrative, the film is entertaining. Look into Leprechaun if you need a good fright. In other words, you won't be let down.