Leprechaun III (1995)

 

Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Screenplay: David DuBos

Cast: Warwick Davis as the Leprechaun; John Gatins as Scott; Armstrong as Tammy; John DeMita as Fazio; Michael Callan as Mitch; Caroline Williams as Loretta; Marcelo Tubert as Gupta; Tom Dugan as Art

A Night of a Thousand Horror (Movies) #161

 

With all this killing, I've lost me shilling.

The Leprechaun franchise is not particularly well regarded, and as a testament to having seen Leprechaun 5: In the Hood (2000), it is not a series for me to willing completely except as a completionist. Number three of the series was also handpicked out of context for me to cover (and watch) for two reasons. One is that it is the first of two directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith, the British born Australian-based filmmaker who I would argue grew in recognition when the documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!, which retroactively created the "Ozploitation" genre for Australian genre cinema, where Trenchard-Smith gained acclaim for making a slew of films like The Man From Hong Kong (1975) and Dead-End Drive-In (1986). Secondly, this is set in Las Vegas, even if it is low budget and minimalising on location shooting throughout. Vegas fascinates me, a place I would like to go to even if I found myself hating it and wanting to leave immediately, probably stemming as much from Hunter S. Thompson's infamous trip there for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and growing up as a kid with CSA: Crime Scenes Investigations, when the original series took place in the city. Even depictions of the more cleaned up version such as Showgirls (1995) or even Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005) fascinate me.

It is, even if it helps the carbon footprint increase every day, an artistically created environment both radiating pure spectacle out of an old Hollywood picture and pure kitsch as a landmark, where you can inexplicably have gangster Bugsy Siegel and Liberace having left a mark on the environment. It also makes sense, baring Ireland, for an evil leprechaun played by Warwick Davis to be placed there. Trenchard-Smith's next film in this franchise shot the greedy bastard into space in the far-future for a joke; here, effectively a personification of said greed in an environment of numerous gambling establishments is perfect. Even a sight gag, a slot machine even found in a hospital waiting room, shows where the film could have ran with the premise further if it had the budget.

Trying to explain the actual plot for this film, not this imagined version, is pointless as Leprechaun III's biggest flaw is that, to get to eccentric and sometimes original gags, you have to create a plot even if it is exceptionally rudimentary. The part about the titular fiend is not an issue - an Irishman missing limbs drops a petrified leprechaun into a pawn shop, where the owner stupidly removes the amulet around its neck despite the original owner's warning. The leprechaun, as an legends and folklore CD-ROM kindly informs us the viewer, is obsessed with wealth, possessing a pot of gold where even one coin by itself can grant a single wish, which is Las Vegas as a setting allows for a monkey's paw-like scenario or a very angry leprechaun tracking the coin back.

The rest is the issue, a romance between the female assistant to a David Copperfield like stag magician and a guy who only gets interesting when Warwick Davis bites him, which is most of the film and bland. Unfortunately, this type of plot feels strung together with a lack of pace. Instead it is the side characters who are of note and keep it propped up, even a joke like two loan sharks debating poor socks they have worn in the past, or figures of cult status like Caroline Williams of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre II (1986) as one of the casino staff, an older woman whose interest in a magical coin leads to her becoming as inflated in places as if a group of strategically placed beach balls was in her body. Davis as well, in full makeup, manages to also make what could come off as demeaning and cheese inducing interesting because he is clearly having fun and is clearly among a type of actor, no matter how bad the film could be, who is bulletproof because of his professionalism. Even bumping into an Elvis impersonator and mimicking him, dressed in full green lederhosen, Davis is game and, again, for an inherently silly monster villain, his charisma is there.

In fact, it would have been inspired if this had the budget, or a significantly better script, to imagine a greedy leprechaun with magic powers (to cause people to spit out coins like a slot machine or statues to fire arrows) try to take over Las Vegas or cheat at the dice table more than he does here. When the film does actually try to be more creative, it is interesting. A journeyman who has worked in many genres, I do suspect Brian Trenchard-Smith is much more comfortable with action, which is he great at, than horror-comedy here, but I also say this as someone whose admiration for him does not want to blame him for the issues with the film either. He does embrace the bright fluorescent pink and green lighting, which won me over, but he feels straight jacketed not having a fight scene or a bit more pace to the material. When the script allows for something unpredictable, it is, the most memorable scene involving a scuzzy casino owner being seduced by a blonde woman who crawls out of the television. It has Warwick Davis impersonate infomercial figures like a psychic or an Evangelical preacher, but the scene gets freakish and interesting when the woman turns out to have been the television having transformed into a robot of wires, a piece of horrifying moving parts to have sex with especially with the rubber face and giant rubber breasts protruding off the front.

Then there is when the lead male is bitten and, yes, turns into a were-leprechaun. Sadly, it does get into Irish stereotypes about their obsession with potatoes, but it also gives him an actual personality when he develops furry eyebrows, an Irish accent and starts to speak in rhyme. A better, better film for me would have had true love prevail but with the main female character loving a half-leprechaun who occasionally gets distracted by gold; her own character gets interesting, in a nice subversion of a potentially icky moment when a wish brainwashes her to swoon over the casino owner, when her seduction technique involves slapping him around first. The problem with many horror films, and films in general, is when a lack of an imagination or taking a risk is involved, to the point of stressing that normalcy must be returned to even though, frankly, it is boring.

As a result, Leprechaun III is merely average. I have seen better from Brian Trenchard-Smith and most of the film, deliberately broad and meant not to be taken seriously, is a production which drifts along until it hits a funny line or weird moment. As a fan of the director, I am probably soften on the film than most people would be, always an issue with horror franchises especially when they strayed away from theatrical releases of this happening, that you need people to be on top or focused form, or the production with be lazy. I sense, if this was made with a bit more of this, this silly premise would have been a hell of a lot more entertaining.