Review of Leprechaun (1993) by Chris S — 12 Apr 2008

They do say that you should never take a leprechaun's pot of gold, but Dan O'Grady (Shay Duffin) made that mistake, and paid for it when the little critter came to reclaim it, took his wife's life and committed the old man to a loony home. Ten years on J.D. Redding (John Sanderford) has bought the house and invites his daughter, Tory (Anniston - yes, that one from "Friends"!), to stay with him. After meeting local hunky handyman, Nathan (Olandt - "April Fools Day"), Tory takes more of a shine to the rundown house than she initially thought she might. But there's a leprechaun around, and soon he is terrorising the unsuspecting inhabitants with hilarious limericks and his own brand of brutal murder.

I like a rubbish movie as much as the next person, but "Leprechaun" just defies belief. A killer leprechaun is a reasonably cute idea for a horror movie (in the mould of "Childs Play"), but despite the best efforts of pint-sized actor Warwick Davis ("Return of the Jedi", "Willow", Labryinth", "Harry Potter"), the whole thing is a ludicrious and unentertaining mess. The acting is obviously absymal (the double act of overweight simpleton, Ozzie, and his irritating 12-going-on-30-year-old friend, Alex, is painful), the direction is about as thoughtful and exciting as you might expect (ie "not very") and the script is desperately lacking in humour or imaginiative twists. Mark Jones has not gone on to create a storm in the world of directing (unless you count the carbon-copy idea, "Rumpelstilkskin" from 1996) and it is no surprise.

Stay clear of this. Only point of interest is the pre-"Friends" Jennifer Anniston. Just goes to show you that stars can come from the most unlikely places.