Sample some of Leprechaun's lethal lucky charms

For St. Patrick's Day,the Syfy channel has a habit of marathon showings of the first two fright flicks in the silly scare series Leprechaun,which started out in theaters and then set it's pot of gruesome gold in the direct to video end of the B movie rainbow.

Some might feel that this isn't the most tasteful way to celebrate Irish heritage but speaking as an American of Irish decent(on both sides of the family tree) with a wicked sense of humor,these goofy gorefests are perfectly suited to the day,in my opinion. Let's take a look over of this hokey horror series and see the fear behind the four leaf clover:

LEPRECHAUN THE FIRST:The original movie is best known as the dubious debut of future Friends star Jennifer Aniston but the real star of the show is Warwick Davis,who plays the title character throughout the six films that make up this funky franchise.

 Davis is to the Leprechaun movies what Robert Englund was to the Nightmare on Elm Street series;a gifted character actor whose wicked gift of gab holds your interest(much more so than the guys and gals you're expected to be rooting for at times)and makes it worth watching,no matter how silly things might get:

LEPRECHAUN 2,A MOST UNLUCKY LADY: The first film was such a surprise success,box office wise,that a sequel was put out into multiplexes as quick as could be. However,it didn't garner as much profit so this was the last one to be given a theatrical release.

For some strange reason,this one happens to be my favorite of the bunch. There's no real connection to the first movie at all(other than the title menace) and it's just as silly but some backstory is provided as the main focus of the plot involves the Leprechaun claiming the descendant of a man who cheated him of a wife a thousand years earlier as his bride.

The weird mythos set up allows for the gruesome green groom to get hitched to any girl of his choosing,provided that she sneezes three times without anyone giving a "God bless you" upon the third achoo and he can only wed a woman every thousand years. Yes,the Leprechaun is also determined to protect his precious gold as well yet adding in an extra bit of jeopardy ,like a bashful bride who would rather bash his ghoulish little head in ,raises the entertainment stakes quite nicely:

 

LEP IN THE HOOD,UP TO NO GOOD: During it's tenure in the direct to video market,Leprechaun has been placed in several new locations such as Las Vegas(Part 3),outer space(Part 4,which we'll see of more in a moment)and twice to "the hood"(primarily,I suspect,for budget reasons).

The first urban trip for the Leprechaun threw in another stolen object for him to chase after,a magic flute that a group of would be rap artists want to use to launch their careers. By the end of that movie,it was the gold hungry green guy who took the stage and rocked the house with his madman lyrics,plus a back-up chorus of enchanted fly girls at his side:

SPACED OUT SCARES: The oddest entry in this series has to be Leprechaun 4:In Space,which takes the humorous tone of the films to truly Mystery Science Theater 3000 depths.

The story line has the Leprechaun's attempts to woo a space princess being interrupted by a band of interstellar marines. The princess is brought aboard their ship,where a cyborg mad scientist plans to use her DNA to regenerate his body,and of course our main green man sneaks along for the ride,in a rather unusual spot to say the least.

The  best low down on this strange sequel comes from the delightful B movie tribute series Good Bad Flicks and it's almost as fun as watching this sci-fi sucker on a very late night indeed:

There has been talk of rebooting the Leprechaun series,replacing Warwick Davis with Dylan Postl(who plays a similar character in his role as a WWE wrestler). Personally, I highly doubt that Postl aka Hornswoggle can pull this off.

 Granted,the draw of a strong core fan audience does help but not every pro wrestler who hits the film circuit can sustain his or her following in the cinematic arena. Warwick Davis may no longer be interested in keeping up this role(he can be currently seen in Jack the Giant Slayer and has other more distinguished film credits such as Willow and parts in the Star Wars and  Harry Potter series) and that's fine.

However,trying to reclaim the awful allure of these films is as foolish as stealing a pot of gold from an angry leprechaun,even if you're armed with iron and four leaf clovers(they never did set a solid standard for destroying the green guy in any of these films). It takes a certain charm to make such a small sized villain seem larger than life and some pieces of gold are best left where you've found them,no matter how shiny they may be: