Leprechaun: Origins (2014) – Review

Where to watch Leprechaun: Origins

0 Stars

The filmmakers have taken a Jaws approach to their tale, showing the titular monster only in snippets till late in the film. Borrowing a cinematic technique from a more skilled craftsman, creativity does not make. Especially if your whole marketing campaign is based on the name value of the creature and the actor in the suit. In this case the WWE’s oddly named Hogglsworth takes the job from Star Wars alumnus Warwick Davis, an unenviable odd job to say the least. The original series had a self-deprecating humor and a certain camp value built-in to its B-movie exhuberance. This reboot lacks any humor, style, suspense, or even a single character to root for.

The story is so simple that I was astonished the filmed product inched past ninety minutes. I would bet that the screenplay ran no longer than 70 pages. A group of four American tourist on holiday in Ireland, get tricked by the local villagers into staying in an abandoned house that serves as the feeding ground for a gold-obsessed Leprechaun. The reason for such skullduggery? The village folk have made a pact to feed the nasty little creature in order to keep him at bay from the locals. The four travelers move through the housing and discover a series of underground tunnels that once were used as a trail to a gold mine. The group tries to evade the stalking presence but are eventually overcome by the killer, except the virginal heroine Sophie, who in the film’s most clever moment realizes that there is more than one Leprechaun.

Leprechaun: Origins has very little to do with the back story of the monster, instead it plays like Straw Dogs with a demon. The Leprechaun can seemingly enter the house at will and vanish through walls and floorboards, but other times isn’t able to get through a locked bedroom door. Expected clichés are typically pronounced in this unimaginative cash-in. There are some many homages throughout that guessing the inspiration is more interesting than watching what is taking place on-screen. This is a lazy, visually uninteresting, un-necessary reboot that stinks of cynicism on the part of the producers. Makes the original look like Avatar, in comparison.

Director: Zach Lipovsky
Stars: Dylan “Hornswoggle” Postl, Stephanie Bennett, Teach Grant