A bit of background - the unfathomably bad second movie in the franchise was far less successful than the first, having barely made its budget back at the box office and being panned by all but the bravest/most idiotic of horror fans. With the law of diminishing returns firmly kicking in, Trimark Pictures decided to cut their losses and we got this - the first in a LONG line of direct-to-video Leprechaun films. Having just taken the movie in, I've got to say that they could have done much worse for their first foray into the world of extremely low-expectation film-making.
This is where the series loses any semblance of attempting to be serious (not to say that the previous movies were Audition or anything) and just goes all-out goofball. This results in a bit more intentional humor than we're used to...and, surprise, this new tone actually worked a little bit with yours truly. Having said that, yeah, the movie is still pretty bad. BUT, it's not bad in the "I've lost the will to live" and very mean-spirited way that Leprechaun 2 was. Nope, we've firmly entered "so bad it's good" territory with this film, and if you're ever all alone on a Saturday afternoon with absolutely no friends and no life to speak of (draw your own conclusion about the conditions under which I watched this movie), you could do worse than Leprechaun 3. Once again starring Warwick Davis, and once again starring Warwick Davis giving the movie about fifty times as much effort as the script deserves.
THE MOVIE!!
Yup, Gupta removes the medallion, prompting the little guy to spring to life for another round of fun. As a parting gift for his liberator, the Leprechaun also bites part of Gupta's ear off as well as the better part of his big toe. Seems like a fair trade-off for me. At any rate, in the process of taking his gold away from the premises, the Leprechaun drops one of the 100 gold shillings in the pawn shop which Gupta promptly snatches, thus setting the epic plot of Leprechaun 3 in motion.
Since pretty much every movie in this franchise needs to include young idiots and their foibles for some reason, meet Scott McCoy (John Gatins, whose acting career is so illustrious that the Wikipedia page for this movie doesn't even have a hyperlink for his name - telling, that), college student traveling through Sin city. He happens upon Tammy (Lee Armstrong), a hot young thing who works as a magician's assistant in the Lucky Shamrock casino. She's having some car trouble, and needs our hero to drive her to work. Thus begins our Harold and Maude-style love story.
Meanwhile, we get our resolution to the fascinating pawn shop story, as Gupta attempts to exchange the medallion in exchange for half of the Leprechaun's gold. This move doesn't prove fruitful, as it results in him getting the holy hell beaten out of him via the Leprechaun's Fit Finlay-style shelale. Just after the coup de grace strike, Scott shows up to sell his watch for some much-needed cash (having just lost his entire college tuition at the Roulette table) and discovers Gupta's lifeless body. This provides us with some unintentional hilarity, as Scott - in the most deadpan voice of all time - picks up a phone and informs the police that, yes indeed, there is a dead person in this pawn shop. Seriously, you've heard Randy Orton speak with less excitement. After finding the Leprechaun's shilling, the folklore universe of these films states that he is entitled to one wish, which he uses to wish for a winning streak.
And...it works. In short order, Scott is back at the table, winning back everything he just lost, the Leprechaun now hot on his trail. It's also worth noting that Loretta, the casino's roulette dealer, is played by Caroline Williams, the one cast member whom I recognized from something else - she plays Stretch, the insanely hot disc jockey heroine in Texas Chain Saw Massacre II. I knew that if I stuck around this series long enough, it would reward me with the chick who ran around screaming w hile looking great in tiny shorts in the only REAL sequel to TCM. Maybe this was a dream. And maybe I'm just stupid.
A quick aside about the Leprechaun series - all of the films have Warwick Davis spouting off these "humorous" rhyming limericks at varying intervals, but I've got to give it to screenwriter David DuBos for this go-round, because they're actually somewhat amusing in this film. Example: "Lovely golden palaces, completely full of riches, I'll rip 'em off and rob 'em blind, those dirty sons of bitches!"
As one would expect, Scott's little lucky streak doesn't fly too well with Mitch (Michael Callan), the owner of the Lucky Shamrock, who has Fazio sneak into Scott's freshly-comped hotel room to steal back the fortune he just won. After Fazio absconds with the gold shilling (and directly after throwing a smoke bomb in the most hilarious, overly theatrical manner imaginable), the Leprechaun shows up looking for ME GOLD. I know that I've said this in every review thus far, but Davis really does own this role; he seems to be having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have. Fifteen Fonzie cool points for him. The epic conclusion to this scene? He doesn't find the gold and heads back to the casino for more mayhem.
So Fazio gives the shilling to Mitch, who wishes in a roundabout way that Tammy was in love with him. While the movie had been much better than expected thus far, this is where we get one of the most truly moronic sequences I've seen in any film, as both Armstrong and Callan engage in some of the most insipid acting this side of Nicholas Cage while engaging in the opening throes of rough sex. Folks, I wish I was making that up. Loretta (who would be Caroline Williams, in case you had forgotten), having witnessed the magic of the shilling firsthand, makes her way up to Mitch's room and steals the shilling. She soon wishes this spell off, leaving the blue balls-infused Mitch all alone by himself.
We get a couple more poetic justice deaths here in short order, as Loretta wishes for her 20-year-old body back and Fazio wishes to be "the greatest magician...IN THE WORLD!" And yeah, he does deliver that line with his trademark awesome overacting. After first getting some spanktastic scenes involving Caroline Williams flaunting her body, the Leprechaun appears and causes her lips, boobs, and ass to expand to Brobdingnagian proportions and eventually explode.
Did I mention that this movie has also been pulling the Shaggy Dog storyline? Well, it has - in his first encounter with the Leprechaun, Scott was bitten on the arm. Amazingly enough, this series throws yet another weird rule our way, as apparently Leprechauns have vampire-like powers, as Scott begins TURNING INTO A LEPRECHAUN. It's kind of a slow-burning process - at first, he imagines himself with a Leprechaun face in the mirror. Then he develops a taste for potatoes. And eventually, he begins TALKING WITH A GODDAMN THICK IRISH BROGUE AND SCREAMING ABOUT GOLD COINS AND SHILLINGS and eventually entering full-on ZOMBIE PLAGUE MODE, wherein he is confined to a hospital bed in a very deathly state with tons of gloppy makeup applied to his face.
Far too much capitalization in the past paragraph, I know, but this stuff really has to be seen to be believed. If it's more story development you want, our heroes have made their way back to the pawn shop - curiously lacking in any and all police involvement since a fatality call was placed from this location earlier in the film, but what do I know - and discover that the way to destroy a leprechaun is by destroying its gold. So there's your copout ending spoiler.
As Scott's condition worsens, Tammy takes him to the local hospital. The Leprechaun soon uses his ever-impressive teleportation abilities to follow suit, killing one of the morticians and capturing Tammy. Before he can do terrible, terrible things to her amazingly hot body, Scott - now a full-on overgrown leprechaun - shows up and does battle with his newfound magical powers. The Leprechaun escapes after Scott/Chaun divulges that Fazio has the missing shilling.
This prompts the movie's money death, as Fazio's world-famous saw trick goes horribly wrong. Another lesson learned from the Leprechaun film series, and it's a valuable one - kids, don't wish to be the best. Ever. At anything. It can only end in Rod Serling-style ironic punishments and/or dismemberment.
And you know what happens from here. Scott and Tammy share a passionate kiss, head out of the casino, and happy times for all. Although I'm not quite clear if Scott still retained all of his gambling winnings, so he may or may not be dead broke. Still, having Lee Armstrong on your arm kinda makes up for that.
FINAL ANALYSIS: I wasn't looking forward to watching this movie. Leprechaun 2 was one of the worst movies I had ever seen, no exaggeration, and knowing the direction that most franchises take after hitting direct-to-video hell, this one had all the makings of being yet more cinematic torture. Lo and behold...it was actually pretty watchable. Maybe not in the way that I'll ever, EVER want to watch it again, but I was ale to make it through Leprechaun 3 without wanting to punch the TV. Having said that, the acting is quite terrible, as John Gatins and Lee Armstrong's combined charisma is roughly equal to Kelly Kelly territory. But the story is rather imaginative, and the humor of the Leprechaun's various rhyming taunts - and Davis' delivery of them - made for some occasional entertainment. Lastly, the Vegas setting really works for the movie, giving a story about searching for lost pots of gold some much-needed fun atmosphere. Not exactly a rave review, but hey, at least I don't want to kill myself. ** 1/2 out of ****.
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