Review of Leprechaun 4: In Space (1997) by Peter J — 18 Nov 2010

This time, the Leprechaun franchise fully develops the sci-fi aspect that, to be accurate, wasn't even there to begin with, to it's full extent. The result is an incredibly confused movie, an unintentional masterpiece of an antimovie that deserves a cult following.

It has an identity disorder, being all at the same time somewhat of a sci-fi action horror comedy, with your random nudity that makes as much sense as the storyline itself. The sci-fi part feels like a cheap mix of Alien (Scott 1979) and Alien 2 : Aliens (Cameron 1986) borrowing various elements from sci-fi movies here and there with unclear intentions - it's not a parody.

Actually, it's as if the alien were replaced by a midget excessively concerned about doing a shakespeare-like theatrical performance with friends from the whole sci-fi realm coming to watch. This means that Davis' might as an actor didn't save this one.

The special effects have the quality of computer games graphics published at about the same time as the movie came out. The action part is decent while the horror part is a nearly complete failure, save for a few good props.

The comedy part is unsteady and isn't even remotely funny. When a franchise dealing with a fairy tale character ends up in space, you know it's time to quit. Support for this statement comes notably from Jason X (Isaac 2002) and Hellraiser 6 : Bloodlines (Yagher and Chappelle 1996).