168) Leprechaun 2 (1994)

Halloween 2023's Somehow Leprechauns are Scary... Extravaganza!  (Part 2) 

"Luck has nothing to do with it." 

Director

Rodman Flender

Cast

Warwick Davis - Lubdan
Charlie Heath - Cody Ingalls

Shevonne Durkin - Bridget

Sandy Baron - Morty
James Lancaster - William O'Day
Billy Beck - Homeless Man

If the first "Leprechaun" movie sees itself as being maybe a bit of a goofball horror flick, "Leprechaun 2" is unmovably convinced without a doubt that it's a goofball horror. It refuses to accept any other label.  

Saying that "Leprechaun 2" is worse than part one seems like a bleedingly obvious statement. 

Does it really come as a surprise? Like the first movie, it's apparent the actors in part two know what kind of movie this is and go with it. 

The movie starts 1,000 years ago in Ireland - the land of saints, scholars, and... leprechauns - as Lubdan the Leprechaun celebrates his 1,000th birthday on the feast of St. Patrick.  

He tells his slave, William O'Day (James Lancaster), that he found a young woman he intends to marry whether she knows it or not. And once he's married, O'Day will be set free.

Lubdan shows O'Day his dream girl and, to O'Day's horror, it's his own daughter. 

He begs Lubdan to choose someone else, but the leprechaun says that when she sneezes three times, she'll be his bride.

So, he manipulates her to sneeze three consecutive times by blowing the thistle seeds. On the third sneeze, O'Day says "God bless you" out loud, foiling Lubdan's plans. 

In retaliation, Lubdan kills him and swears to marry one of O'Day's descendants on his next 1,000 birthday. 

The story jumps to his next 1,000th birthday which takes the leprechaun to modern day Los Angeles. 

A kid named Cody (Charlie Heath), which is such a standard name for a young 90s horror movie protagonist, is working for a haunted tour service called "Dark Side Tours." This limo ride takes tourists to true-crime locations around L.A. I wonder how they narrow down only a few crime spots to showcase. 

Anyways, it's owned by a lush named Morty (Sandy Baron). 

Cody manages to get a limo full of paying tourists and tries to get Morty to do his job and drive them around. Cody, after all, is anxious to go on a date with his girlfriend, Bridget (Shevonne Durkin), that same night. However, he finds Morty too hammered to drive. So, much to his complete disappointment, and Bridget's dismay, Cody has to drive the tour group around himself. 

Warwick Davis and Sandy Baron in "Leprechaun 2."

Instead of going on their date, he takes Bridget along and drops her off at the go-kart track where they were originally going to go. 

She meets up with some smug rival teenager named Ivan, whom the audience knows right away is going to die later. And he does. Spoiler warning, by the way. 

Lubdan makes his way to L.A. via an old "Irish" tree near Harry Houdini's former house. 

A homeless man witnesses Lubdan enter the current time through the tree. Lubdan notices the homeless man has a gold tooth and decides to take his gold for himself. So, he yanks it out.

When Ivan drives Bridget home, he tries to pursued her to invite him inside. Of course, she refuses and smacks him. 

However, as he's leaving, he sees Bridget in the garage calling to him and apologizing for being rude. So, he wanders over. She starts to (ahem) seduce him. Little does he know it's Lubdan in disguise. As Ivan goes in to kiss her, he doesn't realize he's about to stick his face into a running lawnmower. 

Inside, Bridget has no idea what's happening in the garage. 

Cody stops by with flowers and apologizes to his girlfriend. 

Suddenly, Lubdan makes his presence known, and tries to claim Bridget as his bride since she's a distant relative of O'Day. She just needs to sneeze three times. 

Cody tries to say "God bless you" but Lubdan uses his magic to tie the phone cord around his neck and lift him in the air. 

He's able to free himself and struggles with Lubdan. The leprechaun shows her his pot of cold (that's not a euphemism, by the way), but she kicks it over. He quickly gathers up his precious gold but misses one gold coin. Cody finds it and plans to use this coin as a bargaining chip to rescue Bridget. 

Lubdan takes Bridget back to his lair to make her his bride and consummate their "marriage."

However, he realizes his gold coin is missing. 

The leprechaun tries to get his coin back while Cody goes on a rescue mission, with help from Morty, to rescue his sweety, Bridget. 

The writing and pace of "Leprechaun 2" seem like the movie is trying to hurry up and make it to the end. Some plot points are rushed through while others are treated as if the audience will understand it all anyways. So, no explanations are given. Then again, it is "Leprechaun 2." Who needs an explanation? 

Shevonne Durkin alongside Davis.

Despite its weaknesses, there are some funny and entertaining scenes in this sequel. One scene in particular has Lubdan on a bender as Morty attempts to out drink him. The scene starts off with Lubdan at one end of the bar glaring at Morty and tapping his fingers on the counter, waiting for something to happen. I can't help but notice that Davis looks bored in this scene, as though what he's really waiting for is the end of the movie.

This same scene includes an obvious nod to Tod Browning's 1932 horror movie "Freaks." Moments before Morty and the leprechaun drink against each other, a group of small people dressed as leprechauns (because it's St. Patrick's Day) meander into the bar. Once the challenge starts, all the short people start encouraging Lubdan by chanting "One of us! One of us!"

What distinguishes Lubdan from other horror movie creatures is how out in the open he is. He interacts a lot more with his victims and bystanderds. Despite how murderous he is, Lubdan is still a leprechaun, and acts as mischievous as one would expect. He does his share of lurking in the shadows but makes his presence known to anyone in order to gain what he wants - namely, his gold. We learn a little more about him in this movie. Evidently, Lubdan can't touch iron. It glows red hot when he does touch it. 

This sequel has more hack and slash horror compared to the first film, including a scene in which Lubdan kills a barista with an espresso machine. 

Overall, the movie has a more amateurish tone. It has all the feels of a decently made film school project. 

Davis is the only returning cast from the first movie. No one else comes back. And Rodman Flender takes over the director's chair for part two. Clint Howard (Ron Howard's brother) has a cameo as a tourist. So, there's that.

It's a horror movie that's heading down the road toward being a silly comedy. 

The writing is choppy and all the cliche horror tropes glisten like the gold in Lubdan's pot. It's as typical a creature-feature as such a movie can get. It knows what kind of a ridiculous movie it is and goes with it regardless. It doesn't try to be a top-notch horror flick. "Leprechaun 2" knows better than to try. So, take it for what it's worth.