Warwick Davis' depiction of an enraged leprechaun has become legendary. In the film, the leprechaun believes that his pot of gold has been taken by a family. He sets out to find them, using all of his wits and muscle. Meanwhile, the family is urgently looking for the gold to appease the leprechaun and prevent him from injuring them. Davis' performance is both terrifying and iconic, elevating Leprechaun to the ranks of the finest horror flicks of all time.
Leprechaun was meant to be a horror picture, but Davis added humor.
Leprechaun movie plot:
After visiting his birthplace Ireland in 1983, where he kidnapped a leprechaun and stole his pot of riches, Dan O'Grady returns to his home in North Dakota. O'Grady realizes after burying the treasure that the wicked leprechaun had tracked him home and killed his wife. O'Grady subdues the leprechaun's abilities and imprisons him inside a container using a four-leaf clover. He had a stroke before he has the chance to burn him.
Ten years later, J. D. Redding and his teenage daughter Tory rent the O'Grady farmhouse for the summer. Painting the farmhouse is a job for Nathan Murphy, his 10-year-old brother Alex, and their friend Ozzie Jones, who works as a contract worker. Ozzie hears the leprechaun calling for help while he is searching the basement. He thinks the leprechaun is a small child. He lets the leprechaun out of the box by taking out the old four-leaf clover. Ozzie asks the leprechaun who he is. The leprechaun tells Ozzie that he is an Irish shoemaker who came to America to find his fortune. Ozzie fails to convince the others that he saw a leprechaun. He then sees a rainbow and follows it, hoping to find a pot of gold. Alex goes with him because he is afraid Ozzie will hurt himself. Before Ozzie, a magic trick makes a bag with 100 gold coins appear. After Ozzie checks it out and accidentally eats a coin, they hide the gold in an old well. They did this because they thought it would heal Ozzie's brain.
J. D. gets tricked by a leprechaun on the farm into walking into a trap by the leprechaun posing as a cat and biting his hand, causing him pain. After Tory and the others have brought the leprechaun to the hospital, he rides away on a three-wheeled bicycle. When Alex and Ozzie proceed to a pawn shop to determine the authenticity of the gold, the leprechaun kills the store's proprietor, Joe, for stealing his gold, and then polishes Joe's shoes before fleeing the scene. When the leprechaun was on his way back to the farm, he decided to build himself a go-kart but was pulled over by the police officer because he was going too fast. The officer is chased by the leprechaun into the woods, where the leprechaun eventually takes his life at the hands of the officer. The leprechaun returns to the farm and begins searching for his treasure while also polishing the shoes of everyone he encounters. After accompanying J. D. to the medical facility, the group makes their way back to the farmhouse. When Nathan goes outside to investigate after discovering that it has been plundered, he is hurt by a bear trap that was placed by a leprechaun. Outside, the mob launches an assault on the leprechaun and begins to beat him with rocks and clubs.
Leprechaun is shot multiple times after a gun is found in the house. After it fails, they attempt to depart, but the leprechaun has wrecked the truck's engine. Leprechaun terrorizes the group until Ozzie reveals he and Alex found the pot of gold. The bag is rescued from the well by Tory, who gives it to the leprechaun. They head to the hospital sure the worst is over. Leprechaun assesses his fortune and finds he's missing the coin Ozzie ate. He confronts them, thinking they fooled him, until Ozzie tells them O'Grady had a stroke and was hospitalized. By throwing dirty shoes at the leprechaun, the gang diverts his attention, and he's obliged to shine them while Tory drives off in her jeep. To kill the leprechaun, Tory visits the residence.
The leprechaun assumes the identity of O'Grady in the nursing home. As Tory flees, the leprechaun tosses O'Grady's bleeding body down the elevator shaft after having followed him to an elevator. Before passing away, O'Grady advises her that the only way to kill the leprechaun is with a four-leaf clover, which grows in plenty outside the property. Tory returns to the farmhouse in search of a clover, but she is attacked by the leprechaun and rescued by Nathan and Ozzie. The leprechaun is gravely injured while trying to retrieve the last gold coin, which Ozzie admits to consuming. Alex takes a four-leaf clover uncovered by Tory, connects it to a piece of chewing gum, and shoots it into the leprechaun's mouth, causing him to evaporate before he can kill Ozzie. Despite plunging down the well, the leprechaun's skeleton emerges and proclaims, "I want my gold." After Nathan pushes the leprechaun back into the well, he ignites both artifacts with gasoline. Tory is reconciled with her father, marries Nathan, and has a child when the police arrive. While the cops explore the well's debris, the leprechaun says he won't stop until he recovers every last piece of his fortune.
How successful was the 1993 film Leprechaun in theaters?
The movie Leprechaun came out on January 8, 1993, in 620 theaters and made $2,493,020 in its first week. It made a total of $8,556,940 in the US. In April 1993, Vidmark put it out on VHS, and more than 100,000 copies were sold.
Leprechaun debate explained:
In the months leading up to the film's release, Trimark partnered with the National Basketball Association, American Stock Exchange, and Domino's Pizza and Subway to promote the movie. The partnership with Domino's and Subway was particularly controversial, as many people felt that the franchisees were being exploited. However, the marketing campaign was successful, and Leprechaun remains a cult classic to this day.
Did Leprechaun have any cinematic sequels?
In Leprechaun 2, the Leprechaun goes to Los Angeles to find a fresh pot of gold. In Leprechaun 3, the Leprechaun gets a magical coin that grants him wishes in Las Vegas. Leprechaun 4: In Space takes set on a spacecraft and sees the Leprechaun combating aliens. In Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood, the Leprechaun returns to inner-city Los Angeles. Despite unfavorable reviews, the Leprechaun series remains a cult favorite.
Leprechaun movie trivia
After the producers requested that the picture be made bloodier to appeal to adult viewers, some sequences had to be reshot.
George Lucas is well-known for his involvement in the casting of Warwick Davis in Willow. The reason why is less well-known. Davis was reportedly under contract to Lucas, and Lucas had to grant him permission to participate in the film. As a consequence, towards the conclusion of the film, he was granted a "special thanks" credit. This little-known truth adds to the film's appeal among horror lovers. It's simply another illustration of Lucas's cultural effect.
Originally, the leprechaun was supposed to escape back to Ireland. But there was one problem: the Irish actor who was playing the leprechaun, Warwick Davis, did not have a work visa. In order to film the final scene, Davis needed to obtain a visa in just three days - an impossible task under normal circumstances. Fortunately, Vice President Dan Quayle's office was able to speed up the process and Davis was able to finish filming on schedule. For his efforts, Quayle received a "special thanks" credit at the end of the movie.
Jennifer Aniston made her film debut in Leprechaun.
Fans of horror should watch Leprechaun. It's a rare horror film that's both funny and scary, and Warwick Davis and Jennifer Aniston provide terrific performances. Although the idea isn't novel, the film is nevertheless enjoyable. See Leprechaun if you want to be scared. Don't be concerned.
It is highly recommended that everyone who enjoys watching scary movies give Leprechaun a go. It's one of those rare horror movies that is genuinely humorous as well as disturbing, and it boasts some wonderful performances from Warwick Davis and Jennifer Aniston. (blog post) It's one of those rare horror movies. Even if the storyline isn't exactly groundbreaking, the movie is nonetheless really entertaining to watch. Check out Leprechaun if you want a nice fright, especially if you're in the mood for something scary. You won't be let down in any way.