Director: Steven Kostanski
Year: 2018
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Trying to find a new location, a teen hoping to find a new sorority house for her sisters' stumbles upon the house where her mother trapped an evil Irish leprechaun years earlier and have accidentally freed it to assume it's quest for gold, forcing her to use her heritage to stop its rampage.
Review:
For the most part, there was quite a lot to like here. Most of the film's better qualities are due to the fact that this one feels like a genuine sequel to the first one and really sells being a part of the franchise. The fact that the house comes back into play once again is a fine piece of continuity, but the characters returning in some familiar roles makes for some solid manner of easing into this one. Adding onto that some fine callbacks including the use of the gold coins located around the property, the penchant for limericks and his shoe-cleaning that are part of the original and this one offers up a great continuity to the series.
That helps to make the slasher scenes all the more enjoyable. Starting with the fine sequence of the Leprechaun emerging from out of the victims' body, this one manages to employ a fine mix between creepy and cheesy. The film manages some creepy scenes with the appearance of the hat stalking her in the flooded basement or the encounter in her bedroom where she finally meets up with the creature, while the cheesiness shines through in the mailman encounter or the later scene with the boyfriend in the woods that results in the best kill of the film. This is fueled by a fantastic finale where the friendly ghost is able to help provide some answers to stop it and the multiple rounds of confrontations in the burning house which has some ingenious tactics at the forefront.
The cast here is quite enjoyable and fit the tone of this one nicely. Taylor Spreitler as the lead Lila is a fine final girl, holding the requisite sweetness and innocence as she tries to overcome her family tragedy while blending in with the rest of the girls in the beginning. Once the action shifts and she has to fight the Leprechaun off, that turns into resourcefulness and confidence rather easily which makes her quite likable. The other main girls, Pepi Sonumga as Katie, Sai Bennett as Rose and Emily Reid as Meredith, all have quite easily defined characteristics and resonate nicely being the trusting, friendly one, the environmentally conscious one and the boy-crazy stoner respectively. Linden Porco as the Leprechaun is a more than suitable substitute, handling the jokes nicely and has plenty of fun with the crazy effects here. As well as some nice gore, these here hold this one up rather nicely.
There are some minor problems with this one. The main issue here is the rather scattershot matter this treats the leprechaun during his rampage as he seems quite unfocused. Knowing that he has the main girl trapped in the basement, who's the only one that's capable of helping him, the fact that he completely ignores her in order to focus on the escaping group which allows her time to discover the way to stop him. Seeing as how that's completely counterintuitive to what his plans are and being so omnipresent about this really doesn't seem likely. The other issue here is the overlong finale that has two or three solid places to end and keeps on going as if unsure of which finish it wants to utilize, turning into a farce of the situation. These here are what hold it back.
Overview: ****/5
As there's a lot to really like here, as a franchise this one might have some of the best quality overall which makes this easily the standout entry and rejuvenates this franchise rather nicely. Give this a shot if you've been burned on the other entries and are willing to give it another chance, want to keep going with the series if you've been a fan or are generally curious, while those with no time for this one should heed minor caution.
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