It took me a while to get round to watching the 'Leprechaun' franchise, with so much going on and having a long watch and review list. Saw the films mainly for curiosity to see whether they would be guilty pleasures or deserving of their dubious reputation. Also appreciate horror, and ones with splashes of comedy, and had gotten into watching a few horror franchises that had interested me for a long time.
Watching 'Leprechaun', while understanding why people would find it a guilty pleasure it didn't do it for me. Saw the sequels as a franchise completest (just in case why anybody is wondering why if the first film didn't it for me why the rest of the films were watched too). While it was still not a good film 'Leprechaun 2' for me was a marginal improvement, with a couple of assets done better while containing pretty much all the faults that the first film had.
Davis is the best thing about the film. He is both amusing and creepy and does do the best he can, successfully, with an again goofy look, terrible lines and less than tasteful horror which must have been hard to do and shows how conscientious and talented he is.
There are sporadically mildly amusing moments that don't come anywhere near enough. It starts off relatively unsettlingly, again not enough to be a redeeming quality. Where the second film improves is in the pacing, the second half is nowhere near as uneventful or draggy, and with a bigger budget the film looks less cheap with a more expansive location and slicker photography, while still not being exactly high art because the effects are weak.
On the other hand, the rest of the cast is very poor, with insufferably bland leads and an assortment of irritating supporting roles. The characters display very little personality when they aren't being insufferably annoying with their dumb antics and illogical decision making.
'Leprechaun 2' is just as lacking in the script and story as the first was. The dialogue is pure repetitive childishness, with an overload of cheese and nothing funny, and the humour and whimsicality are forced. Having gratuitous gruesome gore was not enough to cover up for the complete lack of scares and suspense, nothing bit my nails, nothing made my heart pound or skip, nothing made my palms or forehead sweat, nothing made me jump. It's not just because it is so intelligence insultingly dumb, excessively predictable and unintentionally comical, but the story, while an improvement, is still thin and meanders in the latter stages. The kills are neither creative or scary, a few distasteful, and the direction is pretty leaden.
Altogether, a marginal improvement but still below average. 4/10 Bethany Cox
Watching 'Leprechaun', while understanding why people would find it a guilty pleasure it didn't do it for me. Saw the sequels as a franchise completest (just in case why anybody is wondering why if the first film didn't it for me why the rest of the films were watched too). While it was still not a good film 'Leprechaun 2' for me was a marginal improvement, with a couple of assets done better while containing pretty much all the faults that the first film had.
Davis is the best thing about the film. He is both amusing and creepy and does do the best he can, successfully, with an again goofy look, terrible lines and less than tasteful horror which must have been hard to do and shows how conscientious and talented he is.
There are sporadically mildly amusing moments that don't come anywhere near enough. It starts off relatively unsettlingly, again not enough to be a redeeming quality. Where the second film improves is in the pacing, the second half is nowhere near as uneventful or draggy, and with a bigger budget the film looks less cheap with a more expansive location and slicker photography, while still not being exactly high art because the effects are weak.
On the other hand, the rest of the cast is very poor, with insufferably bland leads and an assortment of irritating supporting roles. The characters display very little personality when they aren't being insufferably annoying with their dumb antics and illogical decision making.
'Leprechaun 2' is just as lacking in the script and story as the first was. The dialogue is pure repetitive childishness, with an overload of cheese and nothing funny, and the humour and whimsicality are forced. Having gratuitous gruesome gore was not enough to cover up for the complete lack of scares and suspense, nothing bit my nails, nothing made my heart pound or skip, nothing made my palms or forehead sweat, nothing made me jump. It's not just because it is so intelligence insultingly dumb, excessively predictable and unintentionally comical, but the story, while an improvement, is still thin and meanders in the latter stages. The kills are neither creative or scary, a few distasteful, and the direction is pretty leaden.
Altogether, a marginal improvement but still below average. 4/10 Bethany Cox