Leprechaun in the Hood

The moment Ice-T stepped into the frame sporting flares, platform shoes and a huge afro, I had a strong feeling I was going to really enjoy Leprechaun in the Hood. And I was right!

The fifth entry in the series proves to be an extremely fun, and knowingly daft movie, packed with camp humour and irresistible silliness from start to finish. Warwick Davis once again returns as the murderous, magic, Oirish fellow, this time causing all manner of trouble for a trio of young rappers when they steal his horde of gold to pay for some audio equipment.

With such unforgettable visual treats as Davis' character puffing weed, Lep hanging with a group of hot, zombie ho's, a death by afro-comb, a cross-dressing homie meeting a bloody end, an utterly pointless guest appearance by Coolio, and even a rap song from the little green fellow himself, it's hard not to have a good time with this film.

Don't believe the negative comments here on IMDb; some people are just naturally unable to have a good time! Besides, if the idea of a three foot tall killer leprechaun toking on a joint and getting nasty with his bitches tickles your funny bone, I say trust your instincts.

Not the greatest in the series, not the worst either. Not the greatest series in the world, but not the worst either. The Leprechaun films have always been silly horror movies that never try to take themselves too seriously (In Las Vegas? In Space? In the Hood?); unfortunately, none of them have ever excelled at that . . . but they've always been watchable.

Leprechaun in the Hood falls somewhere in the middle in terms of quality. Like the latest trends of just about any franchise, the film takes its audience for a bunch of a morons and feels the need to shove overused and no-longer-funny jokes down their throats. Some of these gags, granted, still manage to have a chuckle-value; most, like the fruit, could if it was handled better. Unfortunately, finesse is not part of Lep 5's vocabulary. No, instead let's throw the crap on the screen and wrap on the shoot ASAP. So, typically, the humor spills more out of sheer chance than talent. After all, if you throw 100 gags into a film one of them has to be funny . . . sooner or later.

It's not as bad as say Leprechaun 4 in terms of going overboard with the humor in a dramatic over-the-top fashion. We're still stuck with archtypes and a group of aspiring morons we'd rather see get killed than survive. Kill them, Warwick! Kill them all!

After the 'safe' scene, things got too wacky for my taste in dark comedy. The plan to catch up with the Leprechaun was plain retarded even by modern sitcom standards. `Leprechauns for Dummies?' Old joke that's painfully not funny anymore.

So that leaves Warwick Davis, himself, who once again steals the show as the title character. He still remains charming in the role of the Leprechaun in his own sick and demented way. Something about the irony of dangerous demonic nature in a creature so small makes the Leprechaun films a guilty pleasure in a way that most Child's Play films are lacking. Not since the Gremlins has any Hollywood Creature had so much fun causing death and destruction. Most of the humor in this film that does work does so directly because of Davis' involvement.

So, at sequel number five, I think it's safe to say fans know what they're getting into with a rental and whether or not they'll find it enjoyable. Leprechaun still has enough moments to get my rental at least for one more film. Have a ball, my little green friend.

OK, it wasn't that bad, I just really wanted to get to use that line for once (my friend who went to see Lep 1 in the theater yelled it out during the movie and got a standing ovation).

My same friend also made a good point about watching the Lep series in general: you know exactly what you're getting up front. It's not like after the movie you're going to say to yourself, surprised, "well, THAT was a total piece of sh--". You can't really be mad at yourself. It's not like going to see, say, Play It To the Bone or 8 Heads in a Duffle Bag where you think you might actually laugh once or twice at something or enjoy the movie at some points, but end up wanting to punch everyone involved in the face (even Joe Pesci). no-one tricked you into it.

Anyway, this one was better than part 4 (In Space), but of course that's not saying much. The best one of the series (I can't believe I'm saying that-I should say "the least painful to sit through" instead) was the one set in Vegas. This one I rented mainly because I heard it was mildly amusing, better than part 4, but mainly I wanted to see Ice-T in a 70's pimp outfit with a big 'fro. I think the whole budget went towards paying his salary and they didn't have much left over for costumes, special effects, sets, etc. Oh well, still beats The Haunting.

This one had at least some entertainment value because it didn't take itself too seriously. A couple of things happened I didn't expect. Of course, couple things also happened that I didn't WANT to happen but had a horrible premonition that they were going to, such as the Leprechaun smoking a blunt and rapping (though not at the same time, Thank God). They were a few times I was surprised to burst out laughing at stuff that I think was supposed to intentionally be funny. There was one particularly funny moment when the heroes are hiding from the Leprechaun that was worth the money I paid to rent it, because it was exactly like a scene from Scooby-Doo (in fact, I think it WAS a scene they stole from Scooby-Doo, but at least they stole from something amusing). I thought at first it was just because I had the flu at the time I watched it and had lots of Nyquil, but then my husband laughed at it too. There's another scene where two characters are having a very serious discussion about how to go after the Lep -- this is after a tragic event occurs, so I figured the movie was going to stop trying to be funny-- and you see that one of them is holding "Leprechauns For Dummies". For some reason (maybe this time it was the Nyquil) that also struck me as pretty amusing.

I bet Spike Lee would be really offended by this movie. For instance, you could easily have a Leprechaun 5: In the Hood Drinking Game with your friends (hey, you could use Nyquil! It's even green) during the movie just by drinking every time a character says, "a'ight", "yo", "homie", or "that sh*t is WACKED, man!". So, while on the negative side, we have the fact that the movie is completely stupid and mindless, with little gore, and really cheap production values, we do have the positives of a few good laughs and the fact that it would pi$$ off Spike Lee. I've seen a lot of horror movies WAY worse and more insulting to viewer's intelligence, so I didn't really want my money back after I rented it.

Although not quite as good as "Leprechaun II", "Leprechaun 5: In The Hood" does an admirable job at capturing the essence of the humorous evil that only the Leprechaun can deliver. He's still just as mean, and twice as violent! I would rate this on a par with #3, where he goes to Las Vegas. Seeing him as a rap artist battling Ice - T is almost too much fun for one movie.

I rented the original "Leprechaun" when it first came to video, and got lots of laughs- some of them intentional, many of them not. Who could forget the image of the evil Lep tearing ass in the go-cart, or what must be the only death scene in the history of cinema to involve a pogo-stick? The first sequel was god awful in just about every respect, but was made bearable by the Lep's rhyming one-liners. The third made decent use of its Vegas location and had some ok death scenes. I have never had the (dis)pleasure of seeing the fourth installment, which took place in space. That brings us to "Leprechaun in the Hood", which jumped off the shelf at me with its sharp cover art, hilarious title, and marquee value of Ice-T (ha). The flick unfolds just like the other sequels, with no explanation of how the Leprechaun got to his location, or even a reference to the other movies. The three lead characters are a trio of Compton rappers- Postmaster P, Stray Bullet, and Dutch, who are trying to avoid the gansta scene of hip-hop by preaching a positive message. Greed gives in when they loot the house of Mack Daddy Onassis (Ice T), the local crime lord/record mogul. They happen to swipe the lep's stolen magical flute, and before they know it are being stalked separately by Mack Daddy and the now awakened Lep. Along the way we see the Lep smoke weed ("What a curious aroma"), go to bed with a drag queen, and make a few pop culture references ("Come hand me gold you thieving hoods, You've got more loot than Tiger Woods!!"). Sadly the death scenes are lame, with a few victims just being strangled, some even killed off screen. Effects wise, glowing green eyes and dry ice seems to be the extent of what the low budget would allow, but the movie is always entertaining with its campiness. For every bad effect we get a good line like "From the depths of the neverworld, I summon my zombie fly girls") A worthy rental, especially on DVD- it has the trailers for Lep 1 and 2.