Leprechaun's Revenge

I was not expecting much from Leprechaun's Revenge, its premise was somewhat hokey and also it was SyFy, whose reputation for mostly awful movies is notorious. So I was surprised that Leprechaun's Revenge was reasonably watchable, even if heavily flawed. What did I like about the film? Well, Leprechaun's Revenge did start off promisingly with some snappy dialogue and a good attempt at an atmosphere. The leprechaun compared to other SyFy creatures is pretty good, used sparingly but this added to the sense of terror I felt, and thankfully less cheap-looking than before. The killings are gory and fun while not being too goofy, the camera work is wonderfully nightmarish, and apart from Billy Zane, who rambles his way through his role, the acting is mostly above average. It is the second half though where the film goes off the boil with a more comic edge that jars with the rest of the film, with the humour rather humourless, the story less suspenseful and more ridiculous, the characters stereotypical and while not irritating not very interesting all the same and the ending rushed and abrupt. On the whole, better than most SyFy outings but the second half is a let down compared to the promise of the first. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I mean, if you're comparing this to the movies with big-time budgets and big-time stars, then yeah it's not all that great. But for a Syfy original movie, Leprechaun's Revenge is honestly pretty decent. I watched it on St. Patrick's day and I was in a good, Irish-loving mood, so maybe that helped me enjoy it. The basic Syfy movie stuff is here: cheap special effects, a weird-looking monster, some cheesy acting, but the movie also has it's positive points. The script is pretty good and I love the small towns in movies, and Keening has its own special charm. This is definitely a step above what I'd expect from a Syfy original. It seems as if the people involved actually cared to make a good product, and they mostly succeeded. I would have given this movie 8 stars out of 10, but I just had to minus one star because of the silly scene where the leprechaun hops into a car (isn't he from the 1700's? How can he drive?) and runs someone over. It was just too ridiculous to be scary, but the rest of the movie, despite some predictability, was quite enjoyable. By the way, I admit that these lower budget Syfy movies induce some sort of feeling in me that makes me want to watch and enjoy them. Who knows?

The movies that premiere on the Syfy Channel generally range from bad to absolutely unwatchable. This should come as no surprise since these films have typically super low budgets and have drastically short shooting schedules, leaving little chance for them to be well put together. However, a decent film occasionally makes its way onto the air and Leprechaun's Revenge is one of those rare cases where the results of the minuscule budget and rushed production schedule doesn't destroy the end result. While Leprechaun's Revenge still seems like a movie that would have greatly benefited from having more time spent on it, the final cut is much better than the schlocky title implies. The first thirty minutes or so are actually engaging. The opening scene is fairly creepy, the tone is set up perfectly, and its clear from the beginning that the protagonist isn't a stereotypical horror movie moron. Yet for whatever reason, the premise stops being effective after a while and the sense of rhythm that was established in the first half seems off in the second half(which I suspect was due to aforementioned time constraints and budgetary problems). Still, Leprechaun's Revenge remains a great flick to watch on St. Patrick's Day with a bunch of friends and it is certainly more entertaining than 90% of all the other Syfy originals. The cast is solid, the effects are reasonably cool, and there is a sense of humor to the proceedings that's hard not to enjoy.

Note: To clear up any confusion, Leprechaun's Revenge is in no way related to the endless series of Warwick Davis horror pictures. If I had to guess, Syfy was hoping for people to assume a vague relation in order to get viewers to tune in.

In the town of Keening in eastern USA, a teenager (Courtney Halverson) inadvertently resurrects a creature linked to her Irish heritage while out hunting with her grandad (William Devane). They attempt to convince her skeptical father, who happens to be the sheriff (Billy Zane), as they try to figure out how to stop the murderous lil' devil.

"Red Clover" (2012) was originally titled "Leprechaun's Revenge," but it has nothing to do with the series featuring Warwick Davis. The creature here is uglier, humorless and more malevolent, ripping faces off, disemboweling victims and cutting a person in half. The scriptwriter wrote "Headless Horseman" and the contemporaneous "American Horror House," as well as directed "Sharknado" the next year. This is cut from the same TV-budget cloth.

Redhead Courtney Halverson is decent as the teen protagonist with her unique look, but she's almost anorexic looking. They needed someone who is able to keep the viewer's attention in a flick of this ilk, like Cindy Busby in "Behemoth" or Danielle C. Ryan from "Snowbeast," both of which came out a year earlier. Erin Karpluk from "Wyvern" is another good example while Joelle Westwood in "The Hunting" is a more recent one.

Yet the green-hued cinematography is welcome and I liked how the actors took the material seriously with an occasional stab at droll humor. The father's explanation for the missing mother, however, is ridiculous and leaves a bad taste, along with the ending in general.

The flick runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

GRADE: C.

While this cheap and cheerful monster movie isn't exactly going to be winning any academy awards it is a bunch of fun and has a good enough premise and lore to warrant another go around if they so wished.

While the effects aren't amazing it is definitely an enjoyable movie to watch and it knows when to make fun of itself while still being serious enough to have some scares and some creepiness, as well as some gory kills.

Overall I think this is a great throwaway monster movie with a solid cast and very few issues that would stop you from enjoying it if you are into cheesy horror flicks. Recommended.