Leprechaun (film)

Leprechaun

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mark Jones
Produced by Jeffrey B. Mallian
Written by Mark Jones
Starring
Music by
Cinematography Levie Isaacks
Edited by Christopher Roth
Production
company
Distributed by Trimark Pictures
Release dates
  • January 8, 1993 (1993-01-08)
Running time
 92 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $8.6 million (US)[1]

Leprechaun is a 1993 American horror comedy film written and directed by Mark Jones. It stars Warwick Davis in the title role and Jennifer Aniston in her film debut. Davis plays a vengeful leprechaun who believes a family has stolen his pot of gold. As he hunts them, they attempt to locate his gold to mollify him. The film was originally meant to be more of a straight horror film, but Davis injected humor into his role. Reviews on release were negative, but it has since become a cult film. It was the first theatrically released film to be produced by Trimark and grossed $8.6 million in North America against a budget of less than $1 million. It is the first entry in the Leprechaun horror film series.

Plot

In 1983, Daniel O'Grady returns home from a trip to Ireland to tell his wife he has captured a leprechaun and thus acquired his pot of gold. Unknown to him, the evil leprechaun stows away in a suitcase and kills his wife. After burying the gold, O'Grady discovers the leprechaun and attempts to kill it with a four-leaf clover. He traps the leprechaun inside a crate and attempts to burn it and the house to the ground, but he suffers a stroke.

Ten years later, J. D. Redding and his teenage daughter Tory rent the O'Grady farmhouse for the summer when they meet Nathan Murphy, his little brother Alex, and their dimwitted friend Ozzie Jones, who are re-painting the farmhouse. Ozzie is looking around the basement when he hears the leprechaun's cry for help, mistaking him for a little child. He brushes the old four-leaf clover off the crate, freeing the leprechaun. After unsuccessfully trying to convince the others that he met a leprechaun, Ozzie spots a rainbow and chases it, believing that there will be a pot of gold at the end. Alex accompanies him for fear Ozzie might hurt himself. A bag of one hundred gold pieces magically appears. After Ozzie tests the gold and accidentally swallows a piece, they plot to keep it for themselves, hoping to fix Ozzie's brain.

The leprechaun lures J. D. into a trap by imitating a cat, biting and injuring his hand. Tory and the others rush him to the hospital, and the leprechaun follows on a tricycle. Alex and Ozzie visit a pawn shop to see if the gold is pure while Nathan and Tory are out. The leprechaun attacks the pawn shop owner, killing him by crushing his chest with a pogo stick. After terrorizing and killing a policeman, the leprechaun returns to the farmhouse, where he searches for his gold and shines every shoe. Everyone but J. D. returns home. Finding the house ransacked, Nathan checks outside, where he is injured by a bear trap set up by the leprechaun.

After shooting the leprechaun several times, they attempt to flee the farmhouse, but the truck has been sabotaged by the leprechaun. After ramming the truck with his specially-made car, the leprechaun terrorizes the gang until Ozzie reveals that he and Alex found the pot of gold. Tory recovers the bag from the old well, and gives it to the Leprechaun. Believing the worst to be over, they leave for the hospital. While counting his gold, the leprechaun discovers that he is missing the gold piece Ozzie swallowed. Thinking that they have tricked him, he terrorizes them until Ozzie tells them about O'Grady, who was taken to a nursing home after his stroke. Tory visits the home to find out how to kill the leprechaun.

At the nursing home, the leprechaun pretends to be O'Grady and chases Tory to the elevator. Tory escapes, while the bloodied body of O'Grady crashes through. Before dying, O'Grady tells her that the only way to kill the leprechaun is with a four-leaf clover. Tory returns home and searches for a clover until she is chased by the leprechaun, who almost kills her; Nathan and Ozzie save her. Alex sets a trap, but the leprechaun nearly kills him. Ozzie tells him that he swallowed the last gold coin and is critically wounded by the leprechaun. Before the leprechaun can kill Ozzie, Alex takes the four-leaf clover from Tory, sticks it to a wad of gum and shoots it into the leprechaun's mouth, taking away his power. As the leprechaun's skeleton appears out of the well, Nathan hits him down and pours gas inside the well, blowing up the well and killing the leprechaun.

The police arrive, and Tory is reunited with her father. As the police investigate the remains of the well, the leprechaun vows he will not rest until he recovers every last piece of his gold.

Cast

Production

Mark Jones, the writer-director, had a career in American television shows. Desiring to make a film, he decided that a low budget horror film was his best opportunity. Jones was inspired by the Lucky Charms commercials to create a leprechaun character, only his twist was to turn the character into an antagonist. Jones was further influenced by Critters, which featured a small antagonist. Jones brought the concept to Trimark, who were looking to get into film production and distribution. Leprechaun became the first theatrically released film to be produced by Trimark. Davis, who had experienced a dry spell after playing the protagonist in Willow, liked the script and was excited to play against type. Aniston, who was an unknown at the time, impressed Jones, and he fought to have her cast. The film was initially more of a straightforward horror film, but Davis sought to add more comedic elements. Jones agreed with this tonal shift, and they shot it as a horror comedy.[2] Shooting took place at Valencia Studios, where Terminator 2 had recently finished production. Several violent scenes were filmed at Big Sky Ranch, where Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons were shot. Davis later said it felt "a little blasphemous".[3]

Gabe Bartalos performed the make-up effects. Trimark contacted Bartalos to produce a sample. Bartalos' early efforts were not to his liking, and he pushed the design in a more grotesque, rage-filled direction, as that was what he wanted to see on the screen as a horror fan. Bartalos' design impressed Trimark, and he got the account. Applying the make-up took three hours, and taking it off took another 40 minutes.[2] Davis described the experience as "not a pleasant sensation".[4] To pass the time while the make-up was being applied, Davis said he had bizarre conversations with Bartalos, with whom he got along well. Davis was conscious of the need to stay relaxed and not move, and he channeled his confidence that the make-up effects were properly applied into his acting.[4]

Entertainment Weekly quoted the budget at "just under $1 million".[2]

Release

Leading up to the film's release, Trimark engaged in an aggressive marketing campaign, partnering with the National Basketball Association, American Stock Exchange, and, after failing to secure deals with either corporate headquarters, individual franchisees of Domino's Pizza and Subway.[5] Leprechaun opened in 620 theatres and took in $2,493,020 its opening week, ultimately earning $8,556,940 in the United States.[1] Vidmark released it on VHS in April 1993[6] and on DVD in August 1998.[7] Lionsgate released a triple feature collection on March 11, 2008.[8] All seven films were released on Blu-ray in a collection in September 2014.[9]

Reception

On release, critical reception for the film was negative.[2] Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 25% of 12 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 4/10.[10] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it "neither scary nor funny".[11] Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Even if you're in the mood for a low-budget horror movie about a maniacal leprechaun in bloody quest of a crock of gold, you'd do well to pass on Leprechaun".[12] The Washington Post's Richard Harrington wrote that the film "has major continuity and credibility problems" and is only interesting while Davis is on-screen.[13] Saying that the film should have been released direct-to-video, Chris Hicks of The Deseret News described the plot as "by-the-numbers killings with no rhyme or reason".[14] Writing in The Austin Chronicle, Marc Savlov called it cliched and uninteresting.[15] Internet-based critic James Berardinelli wrote, "How is the audience supposed to sympathize with a group of morons who act like they flunked kindergarten?"[16] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette critic Ron Weiskind wrote, "Forget about the proverbial pot of gold. The movie Leprechaun is a crock."[17] Matt Bourjaily of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the film "has brought new meaning to the term 'bad'".[18] Writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, critic Jeff Makos felt that audience feedback would be more entertaining than the film itself.[19] Robert Strauss of the Los Angeles Daily News called it "as witless and worthless a horror film as could possibly be conjured".[20] Sight & Sound described Leprechaun as a film which seems to have no concept of a target audience, stating, "Jones wants this to be a lively romp for older kids in the mould of Time Bandits...but also wants to corner the lucrative horror market."[21] The review concluded, "Unsuitable for adults or kids, this is ultimately for completists."[21]

Despite the negative reviews, Leprechaun and its sequels have become cult films.[2] In 2009, Tanya Gold of The Guardian selected it as one of the top ten scariest films for Halloween,[22] and it is also watched on Saint Patrick's Day.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 "Leprechaun". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Collis, Clark (2014-08-25). "Shlocky charms: The crazy rise and 'terrifying' return of 'Leprechaun'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  3. ↑ Davis, Warwick (2011). Size Matters Not. John Wiley & Sons. p. 190. ISBN 9781118119396.
  4. 1 2 Robinson, Tasha (2001-11-07). "Interview: Warwick Davis". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
  5. ↑ Broeske, Pat H. (1993-01-29). "Marketing 'Leprechaun'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  6. ↑ "Movies". Orlando Sentinel. 1993-04-09. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  7. ↑ Traiman, Steve (1998-07-11). "DVD ETA: A Flood of Second-Half Releases Signals Format's Arrival". Billboard 110 (28): 63–68.
  8. ↑ Weintraub, Steve (2008-02-10). "New Lionsgate DVD Cover Art and Info – March". Collider.com. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  9. ↑ Gingold, Michael (2014-06-24). "Exclusive details/cover art: "LEPRECHAUN: THE COMPLETE MOVIE COLLECTION" Blu-ray set". Fangoria. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  10. ↑ "Leprechaun (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  11. ↑ Canby, Vincent (1993-01-09). "Leprechaun (1993)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  12. ↑ Wilmington, Michael (1993-01-11). "Stage and Film : 'Leprechaun' Savages Taste in Bloody Quest for Gold". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  13. ↑ Harrington, Richard (1993-01-09). "'Leprechaun' (R)". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  14. ↑ Hicks, Chris (1993-03-18). "Film review: Leprechaun". The Deseret News. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
  15. ↑ Savlov, Marc (1993-01-15). "Leprechaun". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
  16. ↑ Berardinelli, James (1993). "Leprechaun". Reelviews.net. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
  17. ↑ Weiskind, Ron (1993-02-06). "You'll Need to Take a Lucky Charm Along to Get Through Blarney in 'Leprechaun'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C4.
  18. ↑ Bourjaily, Matt (1993-01-22). "'Leprechaun' Gags On Bad Jokes". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
  19. ↑ Makos, Jeff (1993-01-11). "'Leprechaun' Needs Some Luck". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2015-02-13 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  20. ↑ Strauss, Robert (1993-01-11). "No Gold In 'Leprechaun'". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 2015-02-13 – via Philly.com.
  21. 1 2 "Video". Sight & Sound. Vol. 3 no. 12 (London: British Film Institute). December 1, 1993. p. 59.
  22. ↑ Gold, Tanya (2009-10-29). "Horror films for Halloween". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
  23. ↑ Hubbard, Amy (2013-03-17). "St. Patrick's Day good for a Google Doodle and a 'Leprechaun'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-02-13.

External links

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