...comes this silly movie about a deadly leprechaun (or Lucherpain, as the movie insists upon calling it). I'm not sure how many stars to give it. Parts of it are actually competently done, which makes the incompetent parts stand out more. The central cast are all talented and chewing the scenery like they know they should in a B movie. The Final Girl is likable and watchable, with a character arc beyond just 'look cute while running' (although she does, it's still Hollywood). William Devane and Billy Zane are delights in their roles, clearly aware of what kind of movie they're in. I'm half-convinced that Billy Zane adlibbed most of his lines, especially that speech at the end about how he lost Karen's mother. The leprechaun suit is fairly decent, but it's shown in full light far more often than it should be. Less should be more, even with a good appliance.
Most of the attack scenes in this movie are comedy gold, from set up to jump scare. The only one that was really frightening at all was not the leprechaun, but rather Karen's doppelganger showing up to deliver a macabre warning. Other baffling decisions unnecessarily undercut the effectiveness of the movie. Like, why set it in Massachusetts when you're filming in Louisiana? Why not just utilize the Yat culture already there? Then the viewer wouldn't have to keep wondering why the topography looks a little off. And why try to conflate the leprechaun with the Green Man? If you wanted the creepier visual of the Green Man, why not just use the Green Man and add a wrinkle of mistaken fey identity to the script? Then you'd have a twisty surprise to throw at viewers before the end.
These are the kind of unanswerable questions that occur to a viewer when watching a movie that might be so bad it's great. Red Clover (aka Leprechaun's Revenge) is not quite up to the spectacular awesomely bad quality of the better-known Leprechaun, but it's close enough to make it worth adding to a holiday watch party.
Most of the attack scenes in this movie are comedy gold, from set up to jump scare. The only one that was really frightening at all was not the leprechaun, but rather Karen's doppelganger showing up to deliver a macabre warning. Other baffling decisions unnecessarily undercut the effectiveness of the movie. Like, why set it in Massachusetts when you're filming in Louisiana? Why not just utilize the Yat culture already there? Then the viewer wouldn't have to keep wondering why the topography looks a little off. And why try to conflate the leprechaun with the Green Man? If you wanted the creepier visual of the Green Man, why not just use the Green Man and add a wrinkle of mistaken fey identity to the script? Then you'd have a twisty surprise to throw at viewers before the end.
These are the kind of unanswerable questions that occur to a viewer when watching a movie that might be so bad it's great. Red Clover (aka Leprechaun's Revenge) is not quite up to the spectacular awesomely bad quality of the better-known Leprechaun, but it's close enough to make it worth adding to a holiday watch party.