1PanelReview Leprechaun: Origins

Did you even know there is a Leprechaun remake???

Come on, Hollywood... Why did you even... Ugh...

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What it is: Leprechaun: Origins

Which is: A creature feature/horror film reboot

Directed by: Zach Lipovsky
Year: August 2014

Don't let its title fool you, this Leprechaun: Origins is not really a prequel to the original Leprechaun series starring Warwick Davis, it's a "reimagination" of the Leprechaun slasher horror film as a darker, more serious horror film. Actually, scratch that too, it has barely anything to do with the Leprechaun series they could have called this Irish Gargoyle for all I care. This first new Leprechaun film in over a decade comes thanks to WWE Studios, it was directed by Tasmanian Devils and Dead Rising: Watchtower director Zach Lipovsky. I didn't even have anything against this reboot being a WWE Studios production, they did produce a few enjoyable films such as See No Evil 2 or Oculus.

Our story opens with a really cheesy opening scene in typical horror films (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, anyone?). After that we are treated to a slow-paced introduction meeting our four main disposable American college kids on a trip in Ireland were they will be offered by some Irish folks as a sacrifice to a leprechaun hunting the woods... I can't believe someone was paid to come up with this plot.
 
What's Good about it: Let it be said, the idea to make a Leprechaun film as a proper straight horror film was actually ok, specially after the goofier horror comedy tone of the later films where the Leprechaun was sent to space, in the hood and "Back 2 Tha Hood". It didn't even need to be a full-on reboot (just look at Curse of Chucky).
And honestly the best part of the entire film was at the beginning, when we're slowly discovering things and it's just Irish folk acting strangely creepy around our college kids... then the Leprechaun shows up...


What's Bad about it: Leprechaun: Origins is not a remake of the original film. And not even a clever reimagining of the concept. It's just a generic attempt at making a "darker", "more realistic" serious creature feature for no reason. You could easily swap Ireland for any other country and it wouldn't have changed anything in the plot. It ends up being a really generic horror film you've seen countless times.
The film has no thrills, barely no kills and no laughs. I'm sure they could have made a decent Leprechaun reboot with decent people at the helm, but this was just a cheap attempt at your typical Hollywood remake and reboot trend.
This title would have you led this could have been a movie explaining how things came to be before the previous films, but this has little to do with those.
And the WWE tried to hype the film when they announced a wrestler in the titular lead role whose whole career was based around playing off leprechauns, but for all the buzz they got around their "serious take" on the Leprechaun and having Dylan "Hornswoggle" Postl cast in the role he ends up having bery little to do in the film. Seriously they could have a child of any of the producers play the role, a puppet and used CGi it wouldn't have changed a thing!
The film stars a bunch of nobodies playing your typical stereotypes, you have the final girl, her boyfriend who only wants to get in her panties but nothing more, the stoner/drunk dude who's the first to be killed off and the slutty girl. All we're really missing is the black dude who didn't ask for any of this!  
The direction is a mess. Some of the worst camera shots and angles I've seen in a while (did we really need those weird shots when the Leprechaun's pulling people by the legs?!).
The plot is dumb, and the characters are even dumber. At the end they could have still made it and all escape but instead they decide to return back to the cabin to kill the monster...?! And then they sort of end up killing each other?!
The Leprechaun himself only really gets one actual decent kill (a "spinal" fatality!).
We never get to properly see the Leprechaun, even after all the characters got a decent good look at it and in the final act when you finally have a ton of shots of the Leprechaun they still remain shaky and blurry!
I really missed the fun and over-the-top tone of the previous films. The key word being "fun".
And all you end up is seriously missing Warwick Davis' persona which always made these films enjoyable to watch. Can we go back to the previous series?
Awful direction. A very sloppy "direct-to-video" qualities, I can't believe this was in theater...
And most of the film's better ideas were all simply ripped off other better productions such as the grass scene from The Lost World: Jurassic Park! And for some reason a really weird Predator-like vision (which actually reminded me of the Aliens' in the AVP games to be precise).
All the film really is is a very slow march towards the death of all of our cast, before we end up with one really long credits sequence (for a film that only lasted 75 minutes, those 12 minutes of credits felt awfully long!).
And a final word on Jeff Tymoschuck's awfully generic music which I had already forgotten a minute after watching the film...
Poorly acted, poorly scripted, not even any proper good gore and a really awful leprechaun!

Overall: Leprechaun: Origins is a really awful, awful reboot.

The original films were campy, sure, but they were also really fun. And Warwick Davis' performance always helped sell those films! They could both be funny and yet creepy. Here we have a non-existent Leprechaun that might as well been any other generic movie monster. With a fun charismatic wrestler like Hornswoggle they could have played him up better to have a monster with some actual presence on screen. But he does nothing aside from growling and trying to bite people. They went with too much heavy makeup and prosthetics making him look closer to Pumpkinhead than a Leprechaun! And we never even get a good look at him aside from the above DVD cover! They could have the creature entirely CGi!

Sure the original Leprechaun films were cheesy, but the Leprechaun himself should have been kept a slasher with some actual personality kind of in between Freddy and Chucky.

This is as bad as reboots get. Avoid It!

I really tried giving this film a chance, I even kind of enjoyed the beginning of the film. Then it just gets worse and worse...

 

I give it: 0.5 / 3!

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