Director: Steven Kostanski
Writer: Suzanne Keilly (Screenplay) Mark Jones (Creator)
Starring: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, Sai Bennett, Linden Porco, Emily Reid, Mark Holton, Ben McGregor
Plot: The Leprechaun returns once again, when a group of girls unwillingly awaken him, when they tear down a cabin so that they can build a new sorority house.
Tagline – Be Careful What You Wish For
Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Failed Re-launch of a Franchise
Story: Leprechaun Returns starts when the daughter of Tory Reding (Jennifer Aniston, who isn’t in the film) Lila (Spreitler) arrives rebuild the house her mother once lived in for her college home, she is joined by Katie (Sonuga), Rose (Bennett) and Meredith (Reid).
With the new activity around the house the Leprechaun (Porco) returns to continue his search for his gold and terrorising the drunk teenagers trying to make a difference to how they live.
Thoughts on Leprechaun Returns
Characters – Lila is the daughter or Tory (from the original) she is moving back to the same house in the vents of the original to be part of a college sorority, she is clearly the outsider of the group desperate to make new friends after a lifetime of looking after her mother. She learns to start believing what her mother did and proves to be resourceful throughout the film. Katie is the slutty of the friends, Rose is the one trying to make a change and Meredith is the drunk one, while they are meant to be portrayed as smart, they are painfully generic and dumb throughout. The Leprechaun has returned looking for his gold and this time he isn’t going to be a friendly, trying to get his power back. He uses rhymes to try and scare the characters and new powers to make object move to kill.
Performances – Taylor Spreitler does every she can in the leading role, trying to step into the shoes of Jennifer Aniston isn’t going to be easy for anyone, Pepi Sonuga, Sai Bennett and Emily Reid are the basic supporting performances, playing confusing characters. Linden Porco does well as the leprechaun being evil enough.
Story – The story picks up 25 years after the original film where we follow a new group of students that head to the house from the original only to find themselves being haunted by the leprechaun who just wants his gold back. The idea that we are taught to forget any of the sequels is a good thing and arguable the only good thing about the story, the rest just makes the characters seem confusing, with the story wanting to say these girls are smart with what they are doing, but as soon as the horror starts they just become screaming messes. It does keep the tone of a slasher story though it just never captures the tone of the first film enough.
Comedy/Horror – The comedy comes from the painfully rhymes that the leprechaun gives, they are very pun heavy which will often make your eyes roll. The horror does come from the kills which are bloody and one is in fact an original one too.
Settings – The film is set in the same house as the original film, it needs to be rebuilt so people could live there, it shows the evil hasn’t left this place after 25-years.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are easily one of the better parts because we get the unique looking kills that don’t shy away from the camera.
Scene of the Movie – Solar panel
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The characters being confusing.
Final Thoughts – This is a disappoint horror sequel reboot, it is filled with too many puns and tries to be self-aware of everything going on.
Overall: Leprechaun is better off dead.
Rating
