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Leprechaun
Released 1993 by Trimark Pictures
Directed by Mark Jones
Starring Warwick Davis, Jennifer Aniston, Ken Olandt
From the back cover of the video:
A horrific Leprechaun goes on a rampage after his precious bag of gold coins is stolen. He uses all of his magical destructive powers to trick, terrorize and kill anyone who is unlucky enough to hinder his relentless search. In a frantic attempt to survive the wrath of the Leprechaun, Tory and her friends scramble to find the only weapon known to kill this Irish monster....a four leaf clover. However, until they discover a four leaf clover or return all the gold taken from the rainbow's end, their fairy tale nightmare has only just begun.
The first Leprechaun movie debuted on January 1, 1993, and was the first movie released in the United States that year. It featured an irrational storyline, idiotic dialogue, low production values, and wooden acting from all members of the cast - with one spectacular exception. The exuberant performance of Warwick Davis as the Leprechaun is the magic ingredient that transformed an otherwise awful movie into a cult classic and inspired four sequels.
Most Leprechaun fans agree that the first movie is the least impressive of the series, but it's lots of fun nonetheless. The plot is extremely simple - "killer Leprechaun terrorizes farmhouse" pretty much sums it up. The movie gets off to a decent start, but then comes a long dull stretch where the Leprechaun is kept hidden in the shadows while the rest of the cast indulges in a lot of unnecessary, repetitive dialogue. This is a big mistake - the Leprechaun is the only thing that makes the movie watchable, and it's no fun listening as Jennifer Aniston whines and that obnoxious kid mouths off. But the Leprechaun eventually comes out into the open and then the entertainment begins, with snappy Leprechaun dialogue and rhymes, twisted Leprechaun games, assorted sight gags, and the occasional bloody murder played for laughs.
The violence is quite graphic at times, but those scenes are brief. The movie's only really scary moment comes early on, when the man who inadvertently brought the Leprechaun to the farmhouse stuffs the unconscious Lep into a crate, and gets much too free with his hands in the process. I hope they used a fake Leprechaun to film that scene.
The Leprechaun series is more about humor than horror. The various installments are not direct sequels to each other, and apparently there is a different Leprechaun in each movie (although I know from personal experience that there's plenty of room for debate on this point). The Leprechaun in the first movie is more childish than in the rest of the series, but that's fine - it just allows him a wider range of outrageously entertaining behavior.
Listen to the Leprechaun 3 trailer - this is the audio portion only, I don't have the technology to put up the video part. Interested in Leprechaun trivia? Listen to a Leprechaun 3 sales pitch aimed at dealers, with information on the profitability of the first two movies. Go to WinAmp if you need an MP3 player. Thanks to Brian Schutz for the sound clips.
Fangoria printed an article about this movie.
GoreZone did too.
And so did Cinefantastique.
IMDb has the trailer, a message board, and much more.
