Connie's Warwick Davis Fanpage and Leprechaun Center

A Very Unlucky Leprechaun

A Very Unlucky Leprechaun
Released 1998
Directed by Brian Kelly
Starring Warwick Davis, Tim Matheson, Lisa Thornhill, Danielle/Stephanie Lombardi

From the back cover of the video:

Nine year old Molly and her father move to Ireland to a house they've inherited nicknamed "Misfortune Manor". It brings bad luck to anyone who lives in it, and Molly and her father soon fall victim to the curse: they will lose their new home unless they can pay the taxes owed on it.

Then Molly discovers a leprechaun living on the grounds and befriends him. His luck has run out, too, because he hasn't eaten a four-leaf clover in over a hundred years. The bad luck begins to rub off on Molly, getting her into all kinds of trouble. Finally, Molly turns things around by growing a four-leaf clover and the leprechaun uses his magic to help her win the town's annual go-cart race jackpot to save the day!

Suppose you're a fan of the Leprechaun series and a parent, with children in the four to seven age bracket. Since you want the kids to grow up sane, you're not letting them watch the horror movies just yet. But you hate for the little darlings to be completely deprived. What do you do?

Well, here's a nice movie for young Lep fans in training, starring Warwick Davis as a friendly leprechaun named Lucky. The movie is too childish to appeal to adults, but still manages to provide some fun for those horror fan parents keeping an eye on the kids. The movie was produced by Roger Corman, whose regular job is making horror movies. There are many scenes in the beginning of the film that won't scare the kids, but will remind the adults of horror films in general, and Leprechaun 1 in particular. (Sample: Opening scene. A father and daughter drive to their new home, while she whines about how she doesn't want to go there. When they arrive, the place is rundown and dirty. And a leprechaun lurks on the premises....does any of this sound familiar?) There's even a little leprechaun violence. When the girl catches Lucky and starts to take his gold, he dumps a few big rocks on her head. But it was an accident, and they're friends afterward. As the story progresses, the little horror touches mostly disappear.

The movie is basically innocuous, although there is a human-caused accident that might scare sensitive kids. A bigger problem is a plot twist that occurs near the end, which should leave the vast majority of kids scratching their pointy little heads and asking their parents for an explanation. The front cover art is so bad is raises suspicion of sabotage; it looks like they're trying to scare the kids away (click on one of the cover photos above for a larger view). But if they can get beyond the unattractive picture, most kids in the appropriate age bracket should enjoy the movie.

This was apprently intended to be the start of a Leprechaun series for young children. It was followed by a 1999 sequel called The White Pony, which strongly suggested that there is more to come. However, that hasn't happened so far.

There are more pictures in the Warwick Davis Pictures section.