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Leprechaun Back 2 tha Hood
Released December 30, 2003, from Lions Gate Entertainment
Directed by Steven Ayromlooi
Starring Warwick Davis, Tangi Miller, Laz Alonso, Page Kennedy, Sherrie Jackson,
Sticky Fingaz, Shiek Mahmud-Bey
This is the sixth movie in the Leprechaun series, although the number "6" doesn't appear anywhere in the title or credits.
Description from the back cover of the DVD:
HE'S BACK, HE'S MEAN... HE'S HIGH? ...AGAIN?The Leprechaun is back in the hood, all blazed up and seeking revenge! When a group of friends discover his treasure, they soon find out they've unleashed a can of demented whoop ass! With their stack of riches, they go from poor to ghetto-fabulous overnight, spending their newfound loot on pimped-out cars and hair extensions. One by one the friends stand up to the weed-smoking, knife-wielding, car-stealing Leprechaun who will stop at nothing to get his treasure back. Evil has a whole new rap and the kids from the hood had better watch their backs!
More than 3½ years after the last movie, the Leprechaun has done it again! The Leprechaun series has always been remarkably flexible, allowing just about anything to happen without having to worry about what occurred in the previous movies. This film fits in perfectly with the first five; it retains the overall feel of a typical Leprechaun movie, while having a unique flavor all its own. For the first time in Lep history, an animated sequence is part of the film, and it's quite entertaining. But most importantly, the sense of fun that drives the whole series is fully represented here; this movie is a fan-pleaser!
The title makes the movie sound like a sequel to the series' fifth installment, Leprechaun in the Hood, but it isn't. Although it's basically set in the same neighborhood, it's a completely different story, and the only character who carries over from the previous movie is the Leprechaun himself.
In contrast to the unusual seriousness of the fifth movie, this film returns to the lighthearted tone of the first four. Like Leprechaun 4, it has no rhymes; instead, it plays with some inventive slang. The comedy is hilarious, with an inspired silliness that reminds me of Lep 3 in spite of the huge differences between the two movies. The Lep is in fine form just as he always is, and he makes excellent use of the humorous opportunities in this movie. A lot of the comedy is physical, and he can make me laugh just by the way he walks down the street. He looks fantastic, too - the costuming and makeup are the best ever, and the audience has plenty of opportunity to enjoy the effect.
The gore is a little on the light side compared to some of the other movies, but it still has more than Lep 4. And there's plenty of violence even without buckets of blood. The Leprechaun tries out some new killing techniques in this one, but he doesn't bother with magic at all. Instead, the rough and ready Lep goes for hand to hand combat in a wide variety of forms. The result is a lot of action and some very gratifying moments.
After the opening animated sequence, the story follows the classic structure with a scene of a minor character confronting the Lep, proceeding to the setup of the main plot. The introduction of the human characters is the most painful part of any Leprechaun movie, and this film is no exception. The cast of this movie is solid enough, but the viewers are primarily interested in watching the Lep do his thing; in any Leprechaun movie, the desire to see him come back is stronger than any interest in the story. According to the DVD audio commentary, about 15-20 minutes of material was cut from the film, and it appears that most of it came from the setup section. The story originally provided a lot more character background, such as the fact that Emily's ex-boyfriend Rory was a high school basketball star who turned to drug dealing after a knee injury destroyed his hopes for a pro career. Although this additional material would have added a lot of depth to the characters, I'm glad they decided to delete it. Cutting back a bit on the setup material lets us get to the Lep fun that much sooner.
In every Lep movie, the story progresses to a final confrontation where one side wins a permanent victory over the other. I won't say who comes out on top in this film, but I will say that the final resolution has a very different flavor than any other in the series. Actually, it's a little too subdued for my taste. Due to the nature of the scene and the low budget of the film, they probably had to shoot it in only one take, and there were problems during shooting that are discussed in the DVD audio commentaries. So they didn't have a lot of options with what was captured on film, but they could have added some extra drama with a little CG or some sound effects or even by slightly speeding up the film. I do give them credit for using a fresh concept, but it would have been nice to have an explanation of what made the fight end at that point. (Hint: the current location of the gold seems to be a factor.) The last minute of the movie would have been a perfect place to tie things up with a little voiceover narration.
But this is just quibbling, because it doesn't affect the overall enjoyability of the film. In any case, the only Lep movie whose ending I really liked was number 5. In a Lep film, the journey is more important than the destination, and this movie gives us a great ride once the Lep action kicks in. As a parting gift, there's a final bit of humor near the very end of the credits where they give a brief description of how Leprechauns were treated on the set.
The DVD gives us something that we've never really had before: special features! There are two audio commentaries and a collection of storyboards. I would like to have even more, but it's a start. And who knows, maybe we'll get more when they come out with the 6-DVD boxed set!
The commentaries are filled with interesting Lep trivia, but my favorite moment comes as the final credits are rolling during the Warwick Davis/Steve Ayromlooi commentary. Warwick talks about my webpage - what a thrill!
The March 10, 2006 issue of Entertainment Weekly printed a list of the 25 worst movie sequels of all time, and Lep 6 came in at number 3! This is actually something to proud of, in a weird kind of way. There are no other low-budget straight-to-video movies in the list. In fact, Lep 6 is keeping company with such illustrious series as The Matrix, Star Wars, and The Godfather. Here's how EW described Lep 6:
"I personally tuned out after Leprechaun 1, which featured outstanding work by Jennifer Aniston. But who'da thunk it would take them so long to come up with the idea of mixing Irish stereotypes and African-American ones? Equal parts funky fresh and severed flesh, this sixth chapter has America's favorite troll smoking weed and hunting the homeboys who stole his pot o'gold. If a movie could spark a race riot, this is it."
Hmm, it doesn't sound like they actually hate it all that much. Not that you can take anything they say too seriously; that bit about Jennifer Aniston has to be sarcasm. In any event, this publicity can't hurt the Leprechaun series even though they're dissing the movie. EW is a mainstream publication, and their mention of the Lep will probably cause some new viewers to check out the series and turn into fans.
Here's the rest of the list, from least bad to most bad and reading down the columns. Notice that Warwick actually has two movies on this list. He must feel so honored!
| 25. The Matrix Reloaded | 20. The Godfather Part III | 15. Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd | 10. Jaws: The Revenge | 5. Batman & Robin |
| 24. The Next Karate Kid | 19. Revenge of the Nerds III: Nerds in Paradise | 14. Conan the Destroyer | 9. Speed 2: Cruise Control | 4. Blues Brothers 2000 |
| 23. Porky's II: The Next Day | 18. Battle for the Planet of the Apes | 13. The Sting II | 8. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan | 3. Leprechaun Back 2 tha Hood |
| 22. Teen Wolf Too | 17. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier | 12. Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace | 7. The Fly II | 2. Caddyshack II |
| 21. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde | 16. Ocean's Twelve | 11. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights | 6. Weekend at Bernie's II | 1. Staying Alive |
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trailer, a message board, and much more.
