Director – Steven Kostanski (Divorced Dad, The Void)
Starring – Taylor Spreitler (Amityville: The Awakening, Stalked at 17), Linden Porco (Channel Zero, Little Man), and Pepi Sonuga (Ash vs. Evil Dead, Cheerleader Death Squad)
Release Date – 2018
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “Be careful what you wish for”
When I was in elementary school my father started letting me rent movies from the local video store. Dewey’s was the name of it and it was my home away from home. Every Friday I would grab a hand full of tapes along with a Genesis game to keep me entertained through the weekend. The owner, Dewey, couldn’t always work in the store so he would have his father work the counter when he couldn’t. Both knew my dad and would let me rent movies that were rated R. When I was in the fourth grade I rented the movie Leprechaun for the first time and fucking fell in love with it. This would become one of the movies that I would rent every so often until I bought the DVD collection some years later.
I love the franchise but when they announced a new installment a few years ago that did not star Warwick Davis I was a little bummed. He was the Leprechaun in my mind. I skipped on that film and recently another one was announced. This time it was a sequel to the first film that once again did not star Warwick Davis but I was interested in seeing it when I heard Mark Holton was reprising his role as Ozzie. I was even more intrigued when I heard that Steven Kostanski was directing. I’m a huge fan of Astron-6 so I decided to give this ago. I requested a review copy and I’m glad I did because this movie was fun.
**Spoiler Alert**The film takes place 25 years after the first film. We follow Lila who is the daughter of one of the survivors of the first film who is returning to the farm that is now the home to the AU sorority. She meets Ozzie who warns her that the place is hiding a dark secret but he accidentally awakens the evil Leprechaun from the well who uses the doubloon in his gut to reanimate. Now he is after his pot of gold and a group of sorority sisters stands in his way. With a little help from ghost Ozzie, Lila is able to work with her new friends to stop the evil leprechaun before everyone falls victims to his mischievous magic. **Spoiler Alert**
I was skeptical about this installment but I tried to keep an open mind. It was a fun installment that had it’s own flaws but was still able to deliver some entertainment. I did have a few problems with the film but the overall product was not a waste of time at all.
The acting in this one is solid. The characters are extremely clichéd but the cast does a solid job bringing them to life. Sadly, the viewer will hold no emotional attachment to any of them aside from Ozzie. You want the Leprechaun to kill them and you actually want him to succeed.
The story for this one is a bit of a stretch. We have a doubloon in someone’s stomach for 25 years and never passed. We also have a random ass sorority now in a tiny ass farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Plot holes aside, the film is still pretty entertaining. If you can look passed the goofy characters you will have some fun especially with the death scenes.
Finally, the film has several on screen deaths which are pretty fucking fun. We get a little bit of CIG here and there that are very questionable but the practical effects are fucking awesome and the deaths are the highlight of the film. I really enjoyed how campy and gory they were. Overall, Leprechaun Returns is a fun sequel but not the best sequel in the series. I enjoyed it but I prefer the other Leprechaun installments over this one. It’s worth a watch but doesn’t have much replay value.
