Movie Review: Leprechaun 3 (1995)
Synopsis: While on his way to Los Angeles to attend college, Scott McCoy visits Las Vegas and immediately loses the $23,000 his parents gave him for housing and tuition. Hoping to chase his losses, he goes to a pawn shop to get money for his watch, crosses paths with a recently freed leprechaun and uses a stolen coin from the leprechaun's treasure to wish for gambling success. However, when the leprechaun hunts him down in search of the coin, Scott is bitten by the creature and begins turning into one himself. His only hope is to kill the leprechaun with help from a magician's assistant, Tammy.
Who's in it? The movie stars Warwick Davis, John Gatins, Lee Armstrong, John DeMita and Michael Callan.
Review: I was planning on waiting at least a few days before watching Leprechaun 3. However, since we had Leprechaun 2 fresh in our minds, my wife and I decided to check out the next installment in the movie series last night instead. As it turns out, it was about what I thought it would be and maybe even a little better I expected.
At this point, even though Warwick Davis has starred in all three films, I am going to assume he is playing three different leprechauns rather than the same one. Even if I'm wrong, I am going to pretend I'm not because the different leprechaun theory makes these movies make a whole lot more sense.
As far as the movie itself goes, I thought the plot worked pretty well. The transition between Scott (Gatins) the horrible gambler to Scott the soon-to-be-leprechaun was interesting to watch, not unlike watching someone being bitten by a werewolf and going through that transition.
Meanwhile, the leprechaun's ongoing search for a missing coin was surprisingly entertaining, especially since he was always finding the right person but only after they gave the coin away. The ironic ways he got revenge on those people ranged from steamy to gross and did a good job demonstrating his magical powers.
I thought the movie's mood was just right as well. It clearly wasn't taking itself too seriously, especially during the hospital scene. However, there was still enough of a horror element to make it a legitimate horror/comedy. In other words, it wasn't a movie I would describe as scary, but it also wasn't trying to be.
My only real complaint about the movie is I wish it would have given more of a backstory regarding the amulet that originally imprisoned the leprechaun. It's not from either of the previous two movies and very little explanation is given in this film. In fact, by the end, that amulet was all but forgotten, as though the writers completely forgot it was in the script.
Well, at least this time we didn't have the hero still facing murder charges at the end.
Final Opinion: It's not what I would describe as a great movie, but it did prove to be somewhat entertaining, so I don't regret watching it.
My Grade: B-
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1995:
Movie Review: Waterworld (1995)
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