Leprechaun (film)

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Leprechaun

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mark Jones
Produced by Mark Amin,
Jeffrey B. Mallian
Written by Mark Jones
Starring Warwick Davis,
Jennifer Aniston,
Ken Olandt,
Mark Holton
Robert Gorman
Shay Duffin
John Sanderford
John Voldstad
Music by Kevin Kiner,
Robert J. Walsh
Cinematography Levie Isaacks
Editing by Christopher Roth
Distributed by Trimark Pictures
Release date(s) January 8, 1993
Running time 92 min
Country United States
Language English
Budget $900,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue $8,556,940
Followed by Leprechaun 2
IMDb profile

Leprechaun is a 1992 horror film directed by Mark Jones. It was one of the first roles played by a young Jennifer Aniston, before she became known for her role in Friends.

Contents

[edit] Overview

When a single father, his daughter, and three painters discover a pot of gold hidden near a house that the family is moving into, a vengefully violent leprechaun stalks them and uses his magical powers to frighten them into returning his gold. Although they are more than willing to meet his desires, one of the painters, while biting it to determine its authenticity, accidentally swallows a piece of the leprechaun's gold, which only complicates matters and leads to a night of terror.

[edit] Plot

An evil leprechaun (Warwick Davis) is sealed away early in the film by Daniel O'Grady, who had stolen a bag of one hundred gold coins from the little green man, but ultimately paid the price when the leprechaun pushes his wife down a flight of stairs. O'Grady manages to seal the leprechaun away in his basement by placing a four leaf clover on a crate, which negates the leprechaun's magic and renders him defenseless. O'Grady attempts to incinerate him, but has a stroke and collapses after screaming "Burn in Hell, you little green bastard!" before he can light a fire. He is later taken to a nursing home, leaving the Leprechaun in the crate.

Ten years later, a man named J.D. (John Sanderford) and his daughter, Tory (Jennifer Aniston) move into the same isolated house, its history unknown to them. Three painters, Nathan, his young brother, Alex, and Alex's autistic friend, Ozzie, also accompany them. Ozzie hears the leprechaun's cries for help in the basement and unknowingly releases him. The leprechaun then asks him to tell where the gold is or he'll bite his ear off and make a shoe out of it. He attempts to warn the others that there is a leprechaun in the house, but, of course, this falls upon deaf ears.

Later, Alex and Ozzie spot a rainbow above an old truck near the house, which is where O'Grady hid the leprechaun's gold. Ozzie, biting a coin to determine its authenticity, accidentally swallows it. Alex urges Ozzie to keep quiet about the finding, thinking that he can use the money to fund a brain operation for his friend. The leprechaun, meanwhile, bites J.D.'s hand while hiding in a tree, though the group was convinced that it was a cat. J.D. is hospitalized; while the rest are with J.D., Alex and Ozzie take one of the coins to a pawn shop owner, who keeps it for further analysis. When the two leave, the leprechaun sneaks into the store, retrieves his coin, and kills the shop owner by cruelly crushing his chest and stomach while hopping on him with a pogo stick.

On his way back to the house, the Leprechaun is pulled over by a Deputy, which leads him to scratch up the officer's face, cause him to throw away his gun, chase him through the woods, and kill him when he breaks his neck. As he arrives at his destination, looking for the bag of gold, he does some weird things, which includes eating a store brand version of Lucky Charms called Lucky Clovers, screaming when he sees himself in a mirror, and polishing the shoes that were in a closet.

Tory, Nathan, Alex, and Ozzie meanwhile return to the home to find it ransacked, and this time, they're convinced that it was a bear. After cleaning up the mess, they hear a sound outside. Nathan goes to check it out, only to get his foot stuck in a beartrap. The Leprechaun tries to kill him with a hatchet, but is shot by Nathan when Alex goes to get him a shotgun. Ozzie tries calling the police, only to have them think it was a joke about a killer Leprechaun. They try again, but the line is dead. Later, they try leaving, believing the little man to be dead, but when Alex goes to fix the Distributor Cap, the Leprechaun is hiding under the hood with the cap in his mouth. The Leprechaun bites Ozzie's ear and then gets a lighter stuck in his nose. The Leprechaun then runs back into the barn, makes a little go-cart, and then tips the pickup truck over with the gang still in it. The Leprechaun then chases them back into the house, only to get his hand cut off by a slamming door.

Tory calls the police with her cell phone and gives them the message that someone's trying to kill them, but when the police send a dead deputy over, Ozzie and Alex finally tell Tory and Nathan about the bag of gold and how they hid it in the well. Tory retrieves the bag and gives it to the Leprechaun, but the little man feels he's been tricked since he does find the missing gold coin that is in Ozzie's stomach. The Leprechaun tries to kill them, only to get his hand burned by a stove with the tea kettle on and shot another two times. During all that, Alex tells Ozzie to not mention the coin in his stomach to anybody.

Eventually, Tory and Nathan learn that the coin is in Ozzie's stomach and decide that they must kill the leprechaun. While Tory goes to the nursing home to talk to O'Grady, Nathan and Ozzie distract the creature by throwing shoes for him to shine, which he has no choice but to polish since he is a shoemaker.

At the nursing home, however, Tory finds that O'Grady is missing; the leprechaun is in his wheelchair instead, leading her to run into an elevator; O'Grady's mangled corpse is then shoved through the ceiling. Just before he dies, he tells Tory that when a leprechaun is in contact with a four leaf clover, he will be as vulnerable as a human.

At the house, after they have found a four leaf clover, the leprechaun nearly kills Alex, intending to shove his head into a beartrap, leading Ozzie to blurt out that he has swallowed the last gold coin. The leprechaun, rather than wait for Ozzie's digestive system to produce the coin, instead chases him down and begins slashing his face with his shoe buckle. Alex saves Ozzie by firing the clover at the leprechaun with his slingshot, catapulting it into his mouth. His flesh begins corroding rapidly and he falls into the well. As the group rejoins, Ozzie mutters "I did a smart thing, I did a smart thing." Just when they think it is over, though, the nearly-skeletal Leprechaun crawls out of the well saying "I want me gold," leading to him being hit by the stock of Nathan's shotgun, falling back into the well, and being destroyed when Nathan pours gasoline into the well and drops a match into it, causing it to explode.

The police arrive the next morning to find a barely-living Ozzie, muttering, in the arms of Tory, Nathan, and Alex. One officer looks in the well to hear the voice of the Leprechaun, saying: "I'll not rest 'til I have me gold. Curse this well that me soul shall dwell, 'til I find me magic that breaks the spell."

[edit] Box office

This film opened in 620 theatres taking in $3,279,000 its opening week. Domestically, the film has made $8,556,940 on a $900,000 budget. It was a commercial success, and since its release it has gained a strong cult following among fans of the slasher genre.

Critically, the film was panned. The film has a 30% average with a 4/10 rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[1]

[edit] Cast

[edit] Filming locations

[edit] External links


v • d • e
The Leprechaun Saga