October 2nd - Leprechaun Movies / SYFY Edit/ Daughter Pics
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| Leprechaun in the Hood (2000) |
My daughter wanted to watch the Urban Lep movies, shown on SYFY. This sequel in the Leprechaun series seems to be set in LA, around the Compton area (as described by the films trio of rap star desirables), where an afroed ICE T (also wearing platform boots, as to tell us this was in the 70s), and a pal, breaks into a brick-walled room where a table has an eaten hamburger and a six pack of Colt 54, finding another room behind a paneled wall (well, ICE T pushes his buddy through the wall in anger). That room has Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) in statue form, since the necklace that is his kryptonite, removed from around his neck by ICE T's "accomplice", re-animating him in his live form. Stabbing the guy in the throat with his hair comb (ouch!), ICE T notices him collapsing in a pool of blood, nearly killed himself by Leprechaun. Instead, Leprechaun uses his magic to collapse ICE T to the floor, only to be undermined by a pressure valve. The necklace is tossed in the air, lands around Lep's neck, and once again turns him into a statue. So ICE T finds a "magic flute" and decides to take Leprechaun's statue form with him.
Okay, present day 2000 has a trio (Anthony Montgomery, Rashaan Nall, and Red Grant) in LA wanting to make it big as rappers, aiming to close out a rap tournament with success in Vegas. They come in contact with ICE T, who has become a big producer, having dealt in pimping, organized crime, and the rap industry in his past. They fail to impress him, as ICE T rips them for being losers, earning their ire, inspiring them to raid his office later that night. Once again, one of the trio removes the necklace, reanimating Lep, taking his flute (and some of ICE T's gold stash and guns), and encountering ICE T as he returns, with Montgomery accidentally shooting him...ICE T had some serious luck as the bullet lands right into a coin around his neck! On the run, the trio eventually realize the flute causes any audience to be "influenced" by them. So their raps cause success after success no matter where they go. Meanwhile, ICE T and Leprechaun are after the trio. Leprecaun has the ability to possess sexy women in order to capture the attention of anyone standing in his way of regaining his flute.
When Leprechaun shows up to ruin the trio's big night, after winning their rap competition, by causing a gun in their possession to kill one of their members, the other two vow revenge. Also ICE T's own guard with a gun gets a hole put right through him as does a reverend who offered the trio refuge in his sanctuary. Two store owners who made deals with the trio after stealing from ICE T (and Lep) are also victims of the Leprechaun. Oh, and Lobo Sebastian as the trans Fontaine takes Lep to the bedroom, but the romp that appears to be noising from behind the door is actually murder through a bloody choke hold.
Absurd as any other Leprechaun film (look, the previous film was in space, so the options for where to go next returned us to earth and seemed to retcon every other film previous to it), the set pieces are ridiculous (stomachs explode, fingers come off, and Lep generally pops up in different places while sexy women with green, glowing eyes operate at his command), and there is some dialogue that might make one cringe today (Lep quotes MLK, Jr. when he's freed from his statue form and Chow, an Asian-American store owner, tells the trio to "hip and hop out of his store"). I guess the funniest scene has Leprechaun taking a drag from ICE T's Chronic, really liking the "curious smell" and telling him, "A friend with weed is a friend indeed, but a friend with gold is the best I'm told". It depends on your sense of humor, I guess. ICE T talks tough and carries a big glock, while Montgomery disguises himself in a red dress, lashes, lipstick, and wig, eventually getting close to Leprechaun. The flute and necklace come hand in hand when it comes to anyone having control of any given situation. The closing scene has Leprechaun with an Irish rap while turning his club ladies, touched by a magic finger, ending with them concluding with a dance pretty much tells you all you need to know of just where the franchise has ended up. 1.5/5
Oh, and this is the first time a marijuana joint is laced with four leaf clovers in order to subdue Leprechaun! How's that for a weapon against him! Not to mention, the reverend with his church has as much of a foul mouth as ICE T, willing to "lay hands on" one of Lep's women (wearing a very tight, clinging gold dress) and show her how they "speak in tongues".
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| Leprechaun has his Jack Torrence Shining montage in the film |
Leprechaun was confined underground by a priest using clover-filled holy water. Emily (Tangi Miller), who works with her best friend, Lisa (Sherrie Jackson), at a salon, falls through a floor into a secret underground lair with a door locking away Leprechaun. Lep returns to form when Emily takes his little chest of coins, returning to her friends, including former boyfriend, Rory (Laz Alonso), and Lisa's pot-smoking beau, Jamie (Page Kennedy; "The Meg"). So, once again, in "tha Hood", Leprechaun is looking for his pot'o'gold and killing anyone (including a drug gang, led by Shiek Mahmud-Bey and his cohorts, such as Sticky Fingaz) who gets in his way. While I think Leprechaun's outfit is more Gothic, with more darker, earthy tones, and makeup is detailed with wrinkles and sinister lines in his eyes (especially, around them); Davis does have a more monstrous look that I personally prefer...he isn't as stereotypical of the character as he was in earlier films. I think that decision to wardrobe him and give him a more menacing presence could persuade fans of the series either way. The story about the struggles in urban LA, and how dope and the police surround the cast focused on, wasn't as pronounced in "Leprechaun in the Hood". The coins are used by Emily and her group to buy them all kinds of clothes, a car, dope, etc. Leprechaun reiterates the lure of riches causing humans who possess them to always fall prey to greed and avarice, never appreciating the gold as he does. Much like "Leprechaun in the Hood" -- ICE T's finger is pulled off because of his ring, just the same as a businessman's finger is pulled off for his gold ring in "Leprechaun 2" -- this film has a scene pulled right from Leprechaun 2 (a vagrant's gold tooth is pulled by Lep from his mouth) in "Back 2 Tha Hood" when Lep wants a gold tooth (melted from a coin) from the mouth of Rory's current girlfriend. I was also frustrated by how this film runs back the exact same scene twice with Rory shooting Leprechaun with clover-tipped bullets, only for it to not work. In fact, nothing Emily or Rory can throw at Leprechaun ever works. No matter of punch, bulletfire, or weapon of any kind seems to keep Lep down very long. I think Mahmud-Bey's gang shoots rounds of machine gun fire into Leprechaun, and he eventually pops right back up without much injury. Weaknesses in Leprechaun in this film are his gold and clovers, and he's always after all of the former while only temporarily hurt by the latter. No necklace to turn him into a statue in this film or a flute used to help anyone of its possession to find success. And no iron to hurt him as in the past. The rules of what can and cannot stop Lep change film to film.
The violence is low-budget as each film in the series seems to have less money to work with. A good bit of it seems to go to Warwick Davis' makeup and a bit towards some of the gore. A leg taken off a cop and a heart removed from a gangster are probably the highlights in regards to gore, while I guess the comic scene will probably be Leprechaun toking from a bowl...marijuana is commonplace in this film. Leprechaun does break through a bathroom door, sticking his head through like Nicholson from "The Shining" before stabbing his hand through a main character. I think a bong is used to stab a stoner, too. When the film cares about the characters' plight and how these gold coins emerge as a possible way out, I think that is quite a tonal change from past Leprechaun films. How the coins are even used against Leprechaun, including the use of a boiler with fire turned up and wet cement, exposes that one consistent weakness of the monster...and those killed by him. Also consistent is Leprechaun punching people. 1.5/5
***The SYFY edit surprisingly, much like the previous film, keeps all the "shits" and only really removes the "fucks", as well as, doesn't seem to excise any of the violence or gore. ***
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