Review of Leprechaun: Origins (2014) by Allan C — 02 Jun 2018

Now don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of movies where little things terrorize big things. I love everything from "Attack of the Puppet People" to "Child's Play" to the massive catalogue of Charle Band Full Moon Features exploiting this horror sub genre (i.

E. "Puppet Master," "Demonic Toys," "Dollman," "Gingerdead Man," etc.). What all these films have in common is that they embrace the absurdity of little things menacing big things, particularly how ridiculous it looks visually, and that is where this film fails.

"Leprechaun: Origins" attempts to make a darker more serious version of the Leprechaun story and fails miserably. Trying to sell a serious and scary story about a 3-foot tall magical (and evil) creature who just wants their gold comes off as just dumb.

It works when the filmmakers don't take themselves seriously or at lease include a wink at the audience here and there, but this film's attempt to be "The Hills Have Eyes" set in Ireland is just dumb.

It's not to say that this horror sub-genre can't be scary. The original "Child's Play" film was incredibly suspenseful and at times scary, but the filmmakers in that case understood the inherit silliness of a possessed killer doll and made knowing winks to acknowledge that fact.

I think the filmmakers on "Leprechaun: Origins" wanted to make something along the lines of "The Descent," changing the quaint folk creature of the prior series into more of a cave monster with night-vision.

I will admit to chuckling when one of the heroins, right before shooting the leprechaun, says "F- you, Lucky Charms," although that's a line stolen right out of the original 1993 Jennifer Aniston "Leprechaun" film.

But overall, there's really no reason for this film to exist unless you happen to believe that WWE professional wrestler Hornswoggle was deserving of a film career.