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Film: Leprechaun 3
Year: 1995
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Writer: David DuBos
Starring: Warwick Davis, John Gatins and Lee Armstrong
Review:
What is interesting here, this sequel I’ve seen more than any other film in the series. My sister and I had seen the original and the second one before this, but we bought this one on VHS. Warwick Davis was also an actor I knew before seeing any of these movies thanks to Willow, a childhood favorite of ours. I decided since this was the next film in line to watch critically from the series, it would be a Featured Review for St. Patrick’s Day. The synopsis here is an evil leprechaun finds himself in Las Vegas, where he proceeds to cause mischief by killing people, granting twisted wishes and infecting a young man with his green blood.
We start this movie with a man coming into a pawn shop in Las Vegas. I don’t recall giving this guy a name, but I’m going out on a limb and assuming it is Lucky (Richard Reicheg). He has a hook for a hand and is missing a leg. Gupta (Marcelo Tubert) who runs the place helps him to see what he’s selling. Inside is a leprechaun statue that looks to be made of wood. There is a medallion around his neck. Gupta goes to take it off and the man warns him against it. Gupta pays $20 for the statue and immediately takes off the necklace. Little does he know that it makes the leprechaun come to life, the monster played by Davis. Gupta is then attacked, using the medallion to ward off the creature and sending it into his warehouse in the back of the store.
The movie then shifts over to Scott (John Gatins). He’s on his way to Los Angeles where he’s going to school. He was given a check for $23,000 that is supposed to cover rent and tuition until he gets on his feet. On his way, he has decided to detour to Vegas. Being so engrossed in the lights and all of the sights, he almost hits Tammy (Lee Armstrong), who is broken down the side of the road. Scott gets out and tries to help this snarky young woman, but her car won’t start. Scott gives her a ride to the casino she works at as a magician’s assistant. She has dreams of being the headliner though.
Once they arrive, Scott asks her to sneak him in so he can see what it is like in there. She agrees, only when he promises not to gamble. This doesn’t work out though. Her boss Mitch (Michael Callan) questions if he is 21 until he sees the size of the check he has. Scott gets chips and is sent to a roulette table ran by Loretta (Caroline Williams). She’s a woman who is a bit older and her body isn’t what it used to be. We see that her game is rigged and she cleans Scott out. He’s a sucker and she convinces him to go to the pawn shop, use his watch in order to try to win his money back.
By the time he arrives at the Pawn Shop, Gupta is dead. Scott finds a gold shilling from the leprechaun’s pot of gold and uses it to wish he was on a winning streak back at the casino. Each piece of gold allows the holder one wish. Mitch is upset with Loretta and wants her to get the money back. Together with the not so Great Fazio (John DeMita), they do what they can. All the while, the leprechaun is free in Vegas and trying to get what is his back. This creates an interesting situation when he bites Scott and he stabs the creature, causing blood to get into his wound.
That is where I’m going to leave my recap for this movie and where I want to start would be that I have a lot of fun with this movie. Like I said with the previous one, I don’t believe we’re seeing the same leprechaun from the previous films. They have the same actor, but there always seems to be somewhat different lore with each one. For this leprechaun, there is this medallion that wards him off. There is also a different way to defeat the creature here. I’ve been completely fine ever since hearing JP Shot from the 22 Shots of Moodz and Horror bring up this idea. So far into this series, none of these movies have continuity with the one prior to that so I can enjoy this movie as a stand-alone film despite it being the third. It is interesting as it doesn’t hamstring itself with needing to bring up characters or events in my opinion.
To move away from this idea, I love the setting here. Having a greedy creature like a leprechaun and setting it in Las Vegas is great to me. From what I saw in the trivia, this is also Davis’ favorite in the series as they let him open it up with the humor. This is also a direct correlation to things like A Nightmare on Elm Street where they wanted the killer to have a bit more personality. There was always humor built into this series, I mean from the creature alone, but I think this movie does it the best. I like that some of the kills incorporate something from the person as that is just clever to me.
What I will say though is that not all of the comedy works for me. I think there are a few jokes that run a bit too far with. Examples here are when Scott is in the hospital. The doctor and the nurse are going through his things. That gag doesn’t work for me, unless the movie is really trying to point out how evil Vegas can make people. I think all of the poems and little rhymes that the leprechaun uses are great though. I’ll be honest, I might not fully understand all of them, but they get creative.
Speaking of which, I want to go to the acting. Davis is just perfect for this role. He brings enough acting ability to be menacing while also being great at delivering the lines. I would put him up there with Robert Englund when it comes to the killer being witty. Gatins is solid as this young guy who is green when it comes to life experiences and being almost swallowed up by the dangerous of gambling in Vegas, which is ironic the changes that come over him here. I love that he loses all of his money so quickly. It made me anxious to be honest. Armstrong is quite attractive. I love the outfit they have her in for most of the movie. She also does well at being the jaded performer despite how young she is. I’m not a fan though of her over the top performance when he’s under mind control from a wish. DeMita, Callan, Tubert, Tom Dugan and the like are fine in their minor roles. Shout out to having Williams in this movie. She is a solid actress and I like the role she has in this movie. Her along with the rest are solid enough for me.
Then really the last things I want to go into would be the special effects, the cinematography and the soundtrack. I really like the practical effects we get here. I don’t really see a lot of CGI and what we do holds up. There are a couple things here and there you could see were fake, but I love that they attempted them. There was a scene where I saw the boom mic though. The cinematography is fine, I had no issues there. I also like them incorporating the music you hear in Vegas that is flashy along with the traditional Irish music to blend the elements.
In conclusion here, this is still my favorite in the series. That isn’t saying a lot though as I feel the original is solid and the sequel is a bit of a step back. This one really does feel like they’re opening it up and letting the leprechaun creature be more of itself. The acting is good enough. The effects are surprisingly well done and I like what they did with the soundtrack to fit the movie. Don’t come in expecting anything great. I think that the comedy works well enough to help carry this movie with the horror elements, but it does go a bit far at the times. Not necessarily in a bad way, it just didn’t work as well for me. I’d say this is an above average movie for me.
My Rating: 7 out of 10