News
‘Leprechaun Returns’ Is Horror Comedy Gold
The cycle of horror franchises is seemingly perpetual. Many starting in the 80’s with following sequels pumped out direct-to-video/DVD/VOD and so on to varying degrees of quality. Most are cash-grabs, but when you find a horror franchise sequel, regardless of format, that perfectly captures the spirit of the original, it must be lauded. Which is why I cannot recommend Leprechaun Returns enough!
A direct continuation of the original 1993 horror comedy, the story follows Lila (Taylor Spreitler) as she journeys to North Dakota AU Sorority’s brand new, eco-friendly house… which just so happens to be on the site of the dead fairytale creature. And as the old saying goes (or at least it should) you can’t keep a good Leprechaun down! The Leprechaun soon returns to his old habits of one-liners and murder as he tries to track down his pot ‘o gold while slaughtering any sorority sisters in his way!
Being a Syfy Channel TV movie, it’s easy to assume it’s just a schlockfest when there’s some real magic at work here. Directed by Astron-6 alum/SFX artist Steven Kostanski, CG is minimal and flows with a truly impressive array of practical work for all sorts of gory kills and mystical mayhem. Let’s just say the Leprechaun makes some creative use of the green sorority house’s solar panels and a wayward drone. The make-up on the Leprechaun is like that of the old while making it gnarlier to set it as its own. Gross green skin, a flowing red beard, and piercing golden eyes. If you’re in need of a practical heavy movie, this one’s for you.
The script by Ash VS Evil Dead writer Suzanne Keilly stands out in the best ways a horror comedy should. The Leprechaun’s one-liners are as fresh as ever, and there’s some self-referential bits that cracked me up. In particular, the shoe obsessed Leprechaun’s reaction to Crocs were hysterical. The characters are fairly typical of this sort of Greek Week terror. There’s the sorority sisters, some frat guys, and our main character who has some secrets to be unveiled.
As well as the return of the Leprechaun, Mark Holton as Ozzie from the first movie makes a comeback. It’s interesting to note that this is also the first time in the franchise that any sequel has connected to another, especially the first. On the Leprechaun himself, while Warwick Davis sadly does not return for this outing, his replacement does a fine job in filling his finely buckled shoes. Linden Porco is able to cackle and crack-wise while cracking skulls with his lepre-claws just fine.
Leprechaun Returns is not without its faults, but mainly can be attributed to a low-budget. Minimal cast means a minimal amount of kills. For the most part, those characters don’t really stand-out too much aside from being Leprechaun fodder. And while a majority share of the jokes land, some felt like they were trying a bit too hard to be current, as in millenials, eco-friendliness, that sort of thing.
Overall however, Leprechaun Returns is most definitely the Leprechaun sequel fans have been craving as much as the titular monster has been craving his gold. Truly recapturing the sickly green heart of the original and setting up for further maniacal misadventures.
Leprechaun Returns is out on digital/VOD December 11th, 2018 and will be airing on The Syfy Channel in 2019.
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
Movies
‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments
It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.
We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.
“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”
That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”
Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
Movies
‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening
Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.
Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.
Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.
Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.
Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.
The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
News
Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date
Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.
Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.
These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:
According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”
Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.
Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
-
News5 days ago
Original Blair Witch Cast Ask Lionsgate for Retroactive Residuals in Light of New Film
-
Movies6 days ago
Spider-Man With a Cronenberg Twist in This Fan-Made Short
-
News3 days ago
Perhaps the Scariest, Most Disturbing Series of The Year
-
Movies4 days ago
New F-Bomb Laden ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer: Bloody Buddy Movie
-
News4 days ago
Russell Crowe To Star in Another Exorcism Movie & It’s Not a Sequel
-
Movies4 days ago
‘Founders Day’ Finally Getting a Digital Release
-
Lists3 days ago
Thrills and Chills: Ranking ‘Radio Silence’ Films from Bloody Brilliant to Just Bloody
-
Movies4 days ago
New ‘The Watchers’ Trailer Adds More to the Mystery
You must be logged in to post a comment Login