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Film: Leprechaun Returns
Year: 2018
Director: Steven Kostanski
Writer: Suzanne Keilly
Starring: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga and Sai Bennett
Review:
This was a movie that I remember coming out. I was getting back into watching new horror movies and doing end of year lists. I’ll be honest, I had stopped watching this franchise after the fourth installment. There was positive feedback about this one though on social media. It went on a list to check out and since St. Patrick’s Day was coming up, Jake and I decided to cover this on Side Quest Podcast.
Synopsis: the Leprechaun (Linden Porco) returns once again, when a group of girls unwillingly awaken him after they tear down a cabin so that they can build a new sorority house.
We start this off with getting images of how the Leprechaun was defeated in the original movie. This is ignoring the sequels and is directly connected to that first one. It then shifts to Lila (Taylor Spreitler) sleeping on a bus. She is haunted by images of this mythical creature. She arrives at the station. She is joining a sorority and one of the sisters was supposed to get her. There is no one there though. She does meet Ozzie (Mark Holton). She relents to allow him to drive her to the house.
What is interesting is that he knew her mother. This town now has a college. The house where Ozzie and his friends, including Tory, did battle with the Leprechaun is the same place that this sorority is converting. Ozzie is cryptic in the information that he gives to Lila. He does share things he remembered about Tory with her.
At the house, they’re trying to take it off the grid. What is funny though is that they’re still going to have the internet. They do want to make it self-sufficient with a garden, water supply and I think even using solar panels to generate electricity. Katie (Pepi Sonuga) is doing renovations with Rose (Sai Bennett). They both apologize for no one getting Lila. I believe this fell on Meredith (Emilie Reid). She is the botanist of the group, but everything she does turns into making alcohol. She shows up later with Andy (Ben McGregor), who has history with Katie, and his friend Matt (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins). She comes with pizza as well.
Ozzie forgot his phone when dropping off Lila. He comes back and looks in the well. It shoots water, which gets into his mouth. The piece of gold he swallowed originally is still in his stomach. By touching it, the Leprechaun gets strength back. Enough to return to his form, killing Ozzie in the process. This monster then returns to the house, looking for the rest of his gold. It is a night of terror as these sorority sisters try to survive and defeat this mythical beast.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I’m not always the biggest fan when you do a sequel than ignores other movies in the franchise. What I’ll say here though, I can work with it since I’m not entirely sure the Leprechaun we see in the sequels is the same every time. I guess that Leprechaun 5; In the Hood and the immediate sequel, Back 2 Tha Hood are. You can make the case that parts 2, 3 and 4 though are not necessarily related outside of Warwick Davis playing the monster. This movie though does have direct continuity.
I think that is where I’ll start. I love that they got Holton back to play Ozzie. This is good as well that this character is setting the stage with Lila. She is leery of him but comes around when she learns that he knew her mother. I can work with the idea that Tory went crazy from her ordeal, worrying that the Leprechaun will eventually come after her. There are other elements like that group hiding the pot of gold. They made a map for it. The old truck and the well are also points that are reused. With how they bring back the monster, I can work with that as well. I like that his power is limited by not having his gold. A plot hole for me would be that the gold piece would still be inside of Ozzie without giving him more issues. I can digress there though.
Now with this movie here, having this sorority trying to take over this remote house and converting it is fine. It does seem a bit too far out of the way to work and I don’t think it could be sanctioned. This land doesn’t seem close enough to the university. Something that I like is a throwaway line, Rose says that they filed the paperwork recently. They could just easily get denied, which then my problem goes away. This place is isolated, trapping our characters and limiting who can get there.
Let’s then talk about the monster. I don’t know the full story, but it was a bummer that this series went away from Davis for this one and the last one. He was doing like the newer Star Wars and Harry Potter movies, so I don’t know if he was ready to move on or not. Recasting him here is fine. I thought that Porco was good as the villain. He made me chuckle with his one-liners. That is the framework of the character. I do like that he doesn’t know things since the last time he attacked it was the early 90s. That did add to comedy for me. I also like that since this creature doesn’t have his gold, his powers are limited. He can still do magic, but it isn’t until he gets more of it back that he can. I also thought that was good to not make him overpowered to start. Credit there. Also, keeping in line that four leafed clovers and iron hurt him was good. I like this concept that unless he is destroyed fully, he can come back. That adds tension with what needs to be done.
I think that I’ll continue with the rest of the cast. Spreitler is a good step in for Tory’s daughter. They look close enough. I also like that she’s an outsider so she needs to prove herself to others. Sonuga and Bennett are both fine as sorority sisters. They’re dumb at times, make bad decisions and have secrets. They don’t feel one dimensional and that is good. Reid works as the jerk of that group. McGregor is an idiot and that was fine. I like that Katie is smarter than him, but because she’s attracted to his looks, she settles. Jenkins is funny as this film buff guy. I liked seeing Holton reprise his role. Porco is good as this version’s monster. I also wanted to credit Heather McDonald. She is doing the voice of Tory and it sounded like Jennifer Anniston. Wanted to give her credit along with the rest of the cast to round this out for what was needed.
All that is left then is filmmaking. First, I’ll credit to recapturing this house and the surrounding woods. I’m not entirely sure if either is the same, but it feels like it. It has that isolated sense which is good. The cinematography is solid with framing. This helps with the practical effects. They hide the seams well. Those were also good with the blood and gore we got. This is a Syfy original so they were limited there, but director Steven Kostanski, he knows how to stretch that. There was CGI that came into play later. Not all of that looked good, but it didn’t ruin it either. Other than that, the soundtrack fit what was needed. I do like how the Leprechaun can change his voice to mimic people, which adds terror for me since it disarms characters.
In conclusion, this is a fun movie. This is already a franchise that isn’t great. I would say to not take them seriously though. I’m not the biggest fan of sequels that ignore other movies, but what I’ll say is that what they do here works. I love the nods and homage paid to the original movie. I thought that the cast of characters were good. Porco is solid in stepping into the big shoes that Davis did for the franchise. This is made well enough. Credit there to the practical effects that give us fun deaths. The cinematography and framing helped there. Just have slight issues with CGI. This is a fun, shut off your brain sequel in my opinion. I enjoyed my time here and this is on the higher end of the franchise for me.
My Rating: 6.5 out of 10