“Sit back, me friend, you may feel some pain; ’tis a pity I forgot my Novocain.” This is the perfect quote to sum up the cult horror-comedy franchise Leprechaun. Back in 1993, Wicket the Ewok ditched his fur suit in lieu of a top hat, buckled shoes, and an unhealthy obsession with gold. Armed with an Irish accent worthy of the finest B-movie, Warwick Davis burned the image of Lubdan the Leprechaun into unsuspecting horror fans like an early-2000s plasma TV. Pogo-sticking his way into cult-classic status, Davis’s bloodthirsty, limerick-spewing performance carried the franchise through six films, concluding his run with 2003’s Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood. Since then, the series was dusted off twice between 2014 and 2018 for two unsuccessful reboots. Now, eight years after the creature last surfaced, Lionsgate Films has tapped Saw writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton to jumpstart the franchise once more.
Tough Shoes to Fill
The Leprechaun films have been in a tough position since the exit of lead actor Warwick Davis. His departure coincided with Lionsgate shuttering the series for 11 years. Then, in 2014, the series reemerged with Leprechaun Origins, Lionsgate tapped rookie director Zach Lipovsky to reboot the franchise. They wanted to distance the film from its original comedy-horror roots, a decision that ultimately backfired. The series maintained a sizeable cult following. Hungry fans were confused by the massive change in tone. Their campy, murderous, wise-cracking Leprechaun was replaced with a standard creature-feature horror experience. Sadly, Origins wasted the franchise’s first theatrical release since Leprechaun 2 (1994).
After this tactical blunder, Lionsgate went back to the drawing board. Four years later, they released Leprechaun Returns straight to digital platforms. Serving as a series reset, Returns hopped back into franchise history and established itself as a direct sequel to the original 1993 film. While fans appreciated a return to the franchise’s comedy-horror roots, it was seen as a half-hearted attempt to capitalize on nostalgia, rather than a strong new launching point for the series.
A Systematic Approach
An interesting thing about the Leprechaun franchise is that across eight films, the series saw seven different directors. Despite playing musical chairs with the staff, the films maintained a solid framework. Each entry sees a psychotic yet charismatic Lubdan get his gold stolen, which triggers an increasingly ludicrous hunt. The unhinged Leprechaun relentlessly pursues anyone who comes in contact with his gold. He constantly taunts victims with dark rhymes and riddles to break their psyche, and employs illusions to lead targets into twisted traps. All while offering false hope through loaded wishes and lopsided games. Lubdan does all this while chasing his targets with seemingly harmless toys. Pogo sticks, tricycles, and roller skates are all utilized in a cartoonishly lethal fashion.
The payoff for these outlandish pursuits is a series of equally gruesome deaths. Some of the craziest stem from magical illusions and twisted wishes. Imagine disguising lawnmower blades as a set of exposed breasts. In other instances, a victim wishes for riches just to have a pot of gold materialize. Except it rips through their stomach. Or what about bargains to change their appearance just to have the alterations swell and explode? No matter how the setting of each film changed, the framework was consistent.
A New Era
A new attempt by Lionsgate might be a true return to form. The studio is tapping into its billion-dollar Saw franchise. These films are also famous for sadistic games and inventively gruesome deaths. Series writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton have been tasked with penning the script for a new Leprechaun project. Dunstan and Melton have worked together for years, co-writing four Saw films, The Collector series, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The duo will be joined by longtime Saw producer Oren Koules, who has worked on all ten films in that franchise. Speaking on the new project, Koules said, “After producing all the “Saw” films, and 23 wonderful years at Lionsgate, I’m thrilled to be working again with the Lionsgate team. Patrick and Marcus and my son, Miles, on a terrifying new way into the rich world of The Leprechaun.”
At the end of the day, the biggest question is what tone this new project will take. The Leprechaun series was never meant to be massive in scale. It is the poster child for “so bad it’s good” cinema. Past the first two films, Warwick Davis performed the majority of the heavy lifting that kept the franchise afloat. While the Saw team undoubtedly brings gruesome deaths to the table, creative gore is something this series has never lacked. As production ramps up, it will be interesting to see who is cast as Lubdan. Remakes are difficult to nail in general, but reboots heavily dependent on a niche character-and-actor combination are sometimes better left undisturbed.
Stay tuned to Nerdbot for updates on the Leprechaun franchise. As always, we have you covered for all your pop culture needs!
