After a huge decade in the 1980sthanks to the slasher fad, horror was on the decline for the first half of the ’90s,only making a comeback whenWes Craven’sScreamcame out in 1996. There were some hits here and there, likeCandymanorWes Craven’sNew Nightmare, but fans had mostly stopped caring about the big horror legends. Then cameLeprechaunin 1993. It’s a silly horror film,mostly known for introducing the world to Jennifer Aniston, but it’s also a fun one thanks to the wild performance ofWarwick Davisas an evil little leprechaun. It saw the creation of a new horror icon not to be taken too seriously.There have been eight films in the franchise, and while none of them are even close to great, one entry, in particular, took the formula and trashed it, resulting in one of the worst horror films in recent memory. In 2014, WWE Studios producedLeprechaun: Origins, and in the process, completely forgot why fans loved the movies in the first place.
Leprechaun: Origins
Not related to the previous Leprechaun films. Two young couples backpacking through Ireland discover that one of Ireland’s most famous legends is a terrifying reality.
The Leprechaun Franchise Is Silly Fun
It’s hard to believe, butthe firstLeprechaunmovie came out in January 1993. It wasn’t a big box office hit,making just $8.5 million, but found success at the video store. Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Leatherface were fading away, meaning another horror icon had the space to emerge.Leprechauncouldn’t match those slasher legends, but it did garner its titular villain some attention. How many other movies can you name with a killer leprechaun? The first film seesthe creepy green villain named Lubdan going after a family who he thinks has taken his pot of gold.It’s a horror movie, for sure, but also with a light, comedic approach, as the leprechaun rolls out many one-liners that would make Freddy Krueger proud. It was a movie to have fun with rather than be genuinely frightened by.
Here’s How to Watch the ‘Leprechaun’ Movies in Order (Chronologically and by Release Date)
Celebrate St. Patrick’s day with a killer ‘Leprechaun’.
The franchise knew this. A sequel quickly came out a year later. It bombed badly in theaters,making just $2.2 million, so 1995’sLeprechaun 3marked the first direct-to-video entry. Each film told a wild new story, and while they often didn’t work well, fun could be found due to how Warwick Davis immersed himself in the role. He didn’t act like the part was beneath him,despite being a cult icon thanks to his workinReturn of the Jediand especially1988’sWillow. When the franchise quickly grew boring, he went with it when it went in a wild new direction to stay fresh. In 1997 cameLeprechaun 4: In Space, because why not? If that wasn’t crazy enough, the year 2000 gave usLeprechaun in the Hood, followed byLeprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood. Oh boy, those last few were bad, but they still had their audience as long as Davis kept coming back.
‘Leprechaun’ Went in a Different Direction After the Departure of Warwick Davis
After a point, however,Warwick Davis did stop coming back. 2003’sLeprechaun: Back 2 tha Hoodwould be his last time wearing the green. It made sense.He’d played the character six times in ten years, and the pot of gold was running empty. Still, Davis didn’t leave over creative issues or because he was ashamed to play the part.As he told Bang Showbiz in 2018:
“You know what, we did six ‘Leprechaun’ films, and around Halloween people always watch them and love them. Horror is an interesting medium. I think it’s different when you have kids; you look at horror in a slightly different way. Since I finished the ‘Leprechaun’ films I had kids and I see the world through their eyes, and to be in a horror movie right now is probably not quite right. I will wait until my son turns 18 and then I’ll do some horror again.”
For another decade, theLeprechaunfranchise sat dormant and no one really missed it. It had its time, but horror fans had moved on. Then WWE Studios had the wild idea to bring it back without Davis. WWE was venturing out beyond the wrestling ring,making movies with their stars, likeDwayne “The Rock” Johnson’sScorpion KingandJohn Cena’sThe Marine. They even tried their hand at horror, with Kane (Glenn Jacobs) starring as a hulking slasher in 2006’sSee No Evil. While WWE Studios would create a critically acclaimed blockbuster with 2019’sFighting With My Family, they were seen as a joke in the early 2000s.A wrestling company making aLeprechaunmovie without Warwick Davis sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. It was even worse.
‘Leprechaun: Origins’ Ignores What Made the Franchise So Popular
Leprechaun: Originscame out in August 2014. It had a short theatrical run in select theaters, before dropping on VOD where it quickly died. To say that it was hated is an understatement.It has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. It could’ve been worse, as only eight reviews have been collected by the website, but that only shows how little anyone wanted to cover it. It wasn’t just critics who despised them. Even horror fans, who can be forgiving of trashy movies, thought it was bad, withLeprechaun: Originsonly havinga 3.2 rating on IMDb.
So how could a franchise about a supernatural leprechaun who goes to space and hangs out in tha hood create something that made those attempts look like gold?Leprechaun: Originspurposely forgot where it came from. With Warwick Davis out, the film turned to WWE wrestlerDylan Postlto play the character. He was entertaining in the ring asthe funny leprechaun character Hornswoggle, but he didn’t know what he was getting into with the movie. In 2014, he toldFangoriathat he’d never seen aLeprechaunmovie before. To him, they looked cheesy and hokey (he’s not exactly wrong there), but he celebratedLeprechaun: Originsfor being completely different from the original. He said:
“Unless you find killing and slashing and jump-scares to be humorous, there is nothing funny about this movie. There’s maybe a one-liner here or there from the other characters, but this Leprechaun isn’t the least bit comical. No limericks this time, thank God!”
Postl was just an actor taking the direction of WWE Studios and directorZach Lipovsky, but his comments sum up how they must have felt. They looked at theLeprechaunfranchise and saw everything that didn’t work. They thought fans hated the Warwick Davis character. We didn’t. While he had gotten too ridiculous, just like Freddy Krueger did, he needed a retooling with better stories.Leprechaun: Originsdidn’t understand that. Instead, they completely destroyed everything that made the franchise fun.
Postl is right that there are zero laughs in his outing. There aren’t any scares either. What we got was something completely lifeless and boring with no reason to exist. The characters are cookie-cutter nothings, and the new leprechaun is a bland creation that looks like it walked out ofThe Descent’s rejected ideas. The creature (that’s all it is now) doesn’t have any personality or do anything other than crawl around and make guttural growling noises at the camera.There is also zero connection to the previousLeprechaunmovies. What we get is the most heartless of slashers and one of the worst horror villains ever put on screen. In 2018,Leprechaun Returnswent back to the fun and humorous true origins. What came right before it is best left dead and buried. Still, if you want to watch it, good luck.
Leprechaun: Originsis available to stream for free on Amazon Prime Video.
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