Four backpackers are out in rural Ireland and have hitched a lift with a farmer to take them to a picturesque village out in the middle of nowhere, but they find he will only take them so far and no further. They are slightly confused by his reluctance, but pay him anyway for the permission to sit in the back of his truck and set off on foot towards the hamlet, taking in the pleasant scenery in the sunshine. But what they don't know is that in this area young tourists such as them don't meet happy fates, as recently two holidaymakers were chased by an unseen menace through the countryside which led to both of them meeting an untimely demise. Just what is lurking out there?
The clue's in the title in a production from World Wrestling Entertainment to provide extracurricular activities for the wrestlers on their roster, which in this case was a leading role for a chap called Dylan Postl whose name used in the ring was Hornswaggle. Only it appeared he was sold a pig in a poke if he hoped this role would make him a movie star, as for all its claims to be a reboot of the Leprechaun franchise the Leprechaun himself wasn't actually in it. Well, he was sort of, only his visage was slathered in rubbery makeup so if you didn't know what he looked like you'd be none the wiser after watching this, and besides, director Zach Lipovsky was for reasons best known to himself extremely reluctant to show his monster.
That's not a euphemism, he really didn't spend too much time allowing us a good look at the diminutive creature, with only the occasional glimpse of the Leprechaun in the final half hour, and even then in almost darkness, and even then even then, never showing us him in a full shot of his entire form, to avoid giving the game away that Postl didn't really have chicken legs in place of human legs, as we caught in yet another split second image. Don't go thinking that at least the crazy quips as popularised by erstwhile franchise star Warwick Davis would redeem the movie, for there wasn't one single joke in the whole ninety minutes: all Postl got to do was grunt and snarl, if indeed that was him providing the noises.
Therefore much of this reimagining simply threw out the wackiness that the series endeared itself to horror fans with and replaced it with a low budget cross between The Evil Dead and The Ruins, as once holed up in the cottage, or cabin in the woods if you prefer, our four potential victims realise thanks to final girl Sophie (Stephanie Bennett) and her experience in the history of the land that there's a leprechaun hanging around and they are to become its sacrifices so the villagers can sleep easily knowing they have sent a bunch of innocent young folk to their gory deaths rather than have the little guy making a nuisance of himself among their population. Something like that, but the curse of the Leprechaun will find a way to make everyone miserable.
You mark my words, should you opt to give this a go you too will be included in those who are dejected thanks to, well, not so much a supernatural curse, more that the W.W.E. bought the franchise for a cynical cash-in, which is quite some feat considering the material they were cashing on in, not exactly the most noble of the horror properties, though at least there was that sense of humour. Those jokes may have made you groan, but there was an imagination at work no matter how idiotic the films became the temptation to stick with it to discover just how nutty they were going to get provided the diversion. In this case, there was no reason to even give it the benefit of the doubt, as most of it consisted of padding, whether that be running about or hiding either in the cottage or in the woods. When it wasn't doing that, a tiresome discussion of the ethics of sacrificing people to a, hmm, he was more of a goblin, but anyway, the villagers have a crisis of conscience that has no effect on the final outcome. Even the effects were hard to make out in the gloom. Music by Jeff Tymoschuk.
