Leprechaun 2

So I bet you’re wondering how they’re gonna bring back the Leprechaun in part 2 to wreak more havoc on unsuspecting humans.  Will someone cast a spell to conjure him up or will the Leprechaun’s brother step in to avenge his death or some other classic horror trope?  Nope.  We’re simply going to pretend the first picture didn’t exist and start over from scratch.  I guess this could be a totally different Leprechaun despite Warwick Davis reprising his role, the makeup design is the same and he acts the same.

This time though the Leprechaun is on the lookout for a bride which he can only do every thousand years for some reason.  He finds himself in Hollywood, CA due to his tree home being moved from Killarney, Ireland to Harry Houdini’s estate decades ago.  Maybe he was hibernating?  I dunno man.  They needed the character to be in Hollywood because that’s where they were gonna shoot the movie.  I’m just glad they didn’t attempt to set this in the turn of the century or some shit and have Houdini be the protagonist.  That would’ve been painful.

Anyway, this first sequel is a decent improvement over its predecessor.  One thing I dig is they really lean into the theme.  For starters it takes place on St. Patrick’s Day.  An obvious choice that the original strangely didn’t take advantage of.  So there are decorations out and a bar full of little people dressed as leprechauns and people wanting to go out and celebrate.  The Leprechaun even gets into a drinking competition at one point.

The horror elements are amped up too.  Like the Leprechaun uses his magic powers to make a guy think he’s about to smush his face into a bare woman’s chest but in reality it’s a pair of lawnmower blades.  Ouch.  Or during the finale our hero does battle with a cobwebbed skeleton that the Leprechaun conjures to life.  Gross out stuff is here too like the Leprechaun giving a woman a kiss with his forked tongue and thick slime oozes out of his mouth.  Or another part where he has his pot of gold appear inside someone’s stomach and the stretched out belly along with the moaning is a touch uncomfortable.

Instead of making the same film again they chose to go in a slightly different direction which is greatly appreciated.  Sure the Leprechaun is on a mission to recover one of his gold coins like in the previous installment but that’s only half the story.  The other half deals with our protagonist fighting to save his girlfriend from being forced to marry the evil creature.  There’s a noticeable bump up in every single category.  With frequent location hopping, a bunch of extras, a whole Leprechaun tree/cave lair set, good quality effects work, you immediately get a sense of the increased production value.

Part 2 is hands down better.