Welcome back to the newest, and at times goriest, column here at Film Inquiry – Horrific Inquiry. Twice a month, I will be tackling all things horror, each month bringing two films back into the spotlight to terrify and frighten once more. And occasionally looking at those that could have pushed the envelope further. Join us as we dive deep into the heart of horror, but warning, there will be spoilers.
It’s a bonus Horrific Inquiry!
St. Patrick’s Day – a celebration with family and friends where everyone is Irish. And as with most holidays, St. Paddy’s day is not without its folklore and even a bit of mayhem. Gold at the end of the rainbow, ancient magics, and leprechauns all to delight and even terrify. This was the goal of Mark Jones’ Leprechaun. Released in 1993, it brings a terrifying look at a vengeful Leprechaun determined to be reunited with the gold that was stolen from him. And while the film does not rank high in the history of horror successes, it did manage to spawn six sequels speaking to the following it was able to amass.
The Gold at the End of the Rainbow
What would you do if you caught a Leprechaun, his capture ensuring you to a pot of gold? I would probably follow Mr. O’Grady’s route. Snag a limo, riding home in style while polishing off a bottle of Irish whiskey – well, maybe a case of Guinness instead. What I wouldn’t do is bring said Leprechaun along for the ride. This is how Leprechaun kicks off.
Mr. O’Grady arrives home from Ireland, a fortune of gold stolen from a captured leprechaun and smuggled into the country by way of a mailed urn. Unfortunately, the luck of the Irish does not follow, Mr. O’ Grady soon learning that violence and terror come in small packages. As he goes off to hide the treasure he has garnered, his wife is left alone to prepare the tea, a small whimper and a child-like voice calling from the living room.
As she opens the luggage, a Leprechaun emerges, immediately hostile, demanding the return of his gold. Taken aback, the old woman falls down the stairs, dying on impact. It is a sad and cheesy moment, the film already cruising in on a B, if not C list, category. What follows is a quick confrontation of the Leprechaun and O’Grady, their final battle sealing the creature within a box beneath a four-leaf clover and O’Grady suffering from a stroke. As both meet their curses for the lust of wealth and fortune, ten years pass.
Enter Rachel Green, I mean Tory (it’s easy to mistake the two roles as they are practically the same), as she and her father move from Los Angeles to the now-abandoned O’Grady farm in North Dakota. It’s hard to stay in the story at this point watching the film so far in the future from when it premiered. Mostly due to the similarity of Aniston’s performance both here and in what would be the hit TV series Friends. Tory and Rachel could literally be the same character, both even coming from a similar background and upbringing background.
While at first, her need for watercress salad and a hotel room bring the spoiled personae front and center, a local painter Nathan (Ken Olandt) quickly convinces her to stay. It doesn’t take long for the action to commence, Ozzie (Mark Holton), one of the painters with Nathan, accidentally releasing the Leprechaun, bringing instant harm to Tory’s father and an insatiable desire to be reunited with his gold.
Missing the Luck of the Irish
There is an interesting aspect to Leprechaun in that it is a really bad film, but it is the perfect indulgence in bad horror cinema given the holiday. There are moments when you witness the ingredients of what could have been a better film, but its lack of identity renders this primarily unsalvageable. There is a comic Who Framed Roger Rabbit feel at times too, cutting off any feeling of horror and suspense that could have been created. One scene, in particular, sees the Leprechaun riding Back to the Future style on the back of Tory’s Jeep, only to be thrown through a white picket fence, the outline reminiscent of the roadrunner.
Yet, the strangest thing, after watching this film for the first time, I found myself excited to make this franchise a yearly tradition. I wanted more of the cheese and basic narrative. Call me a sucker for the holiday, but it was the perfect fix between the corned beef and the soda bread. Warwick Davis is irreplaceable as the menacing Leprechaun, his repertoire of roles both before and after speaking not only to the diversity and range within his performances but the fun behind bringing these roles to life.
The film also boasts an impressive homage to horror films itself and to the holiday. While a bit oversaturated at times, almost every commercialized aspect of St. Patrick’s Day is hit. You have the golden coins, the appearance of the rainbow in a swipe after the Leprechaun is released, traditional Leprechaun garb, and even the appearance of Lucky Charms – with the Leprechaun even trying, and disliking the sweet cereal treat. But it is not just the holiday that is referenced, the Leprechaun, at one point, unmistakably emulating the image of Stripe from Gremlins, as well as a hand reaching out through the phone to caress Tory’s face much in the way Freddy Krueger did to Nancy with his tongue in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Mental Illness and Faith
Oddly enough, Leprechaun does attempt to reach deeper into the wells of meaning, mental illness and faith briefly brushed upon. When the young boy Alex (Robert Hy Gorman) and fellow painter Ozzie discover the gold coins, there is a childhood sweetness as Alex declares they should hide the gold so they can pay for Ozzie to have surgery on his brain; a surgery to make him smart. It is immensely sad, however, as the sweet thought was born out of ignorance of the times. Mental illness, especially in children, was just becoming more of an accepted idea in schools, homes, and medical professions, and you can see how the lack of knowledge and understanding in adults has passed on to the children. Something must be wrong with him, and thus must be fixed – can be fixed.
Yet, this is contrasted later on by Tory, who has mostly been projected as the progressive in the group. Her constant questioning about eating meat and environmentally friendly paint adds to the validity of her stance and understanding surrounding mental health. As Alex is forced to reveal he knows where the gold is that the Leprechaun seeks, he confesses he was hiding it for Ozzie’s brain surgery to make him smart. Tory, almost shaking him, becomes the adult figure of knowledge, explaining that there is no surgery to fix Ozzie – that he is the way he is and there is no “fixing” it, and that’s okay. It is a bold statement, no matter how hidden it is within the narrative of the film.
There is also the idea of losing one’s faith. As Tory searches through the clover patch searching for the four-leaf clover that will save them all, she gives up, claiming it all to be hopeless. Not only does it speak to her over-dramatic character profile, but it also speaks to those who have faced uncertainty and improbable conditions. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for you to run to, only the belief that you will get there. At this moment, Tory has lost that belief. It is Ozzie, however, that restores it. He tells her that she has just lost her faith and encourages her to continue on.
While Ozzie is portrayed as the mentally disabled character within the film, where he is shown as seeing more than those around him. He may see the world a bit differently, yet it is that ability that allows him to see what others can’t and nurture those who are lost. With his encouragement, he restores Tory’s faith, a four-leaf clover instantly found as proof.
Conclusion
Leprechaun is a film that severely requires the viewer to suspend all believability and plausibility. Looking at it from a cinematic and technical aspect, the film leaves much to be desired. Yet, if you sit back and just go along for the ride, you will find Leprechaun to be more enjoyable than you might expect.
Happy St. Paddy’s Day!
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