77: Leprechaun In The Hood

Leprechaun In The Hood

Fiddily diddly die!

I'm not Irish. Not even ¼ of a 1/25/ of 1/8. But since it's St. Patrick's Day, there is only one way to celebrate by a non-drinking, non-Irishman. Watching a Leprechaun movie. There may be other St. Patrick's Day-related horror out there, but this is the only one that really matters. If you plan on celebrating today, make sure to be smart and be safe. And if you need something to talk about at the bar in-between green beers and Guinness, maybe this blog will help.

Leprechaun In The Hood (or Leprechaun 5 if you prefer) starts off in the 70's, when pimp Mack Daddy (Ice-T) comes across a hidden treasure and a leprechaun statue. Mack's partner removes a gold necklace from around the Leprechaun's (Warwick Davis, Willow) neck, reversing the curse that has turned him into a statue. Leprechaun kills the partner and goes after Mack. By a twist of fate, Mack is able to get the necklace back around the Leprechaun's neck, turning him into a statue once again. Mack uses the gold to build an empire in Los Angeles. In present day, young rappers Postmaster P, Stray Bullet, and Butch are struggling to make it out of Compton and hit it big. Their way out is to win a competition in Las Vegas that will fast track them to rich and fame. They decide to rob Mack Daddy, unwittingly bringing Leprechaun back to life. Now the three rappers are on the run from an angry Mack Daddy and a murderous Leprechaun. Postmaster P discovers that the Leprechaun's flute has the ability to control people and he uses it to make people like their music. Will they be able to win the contest in Vegas or will Mack Daddy and Leprechaun get their bloody revenge?

And will we get to see a Body Count reunion?

The fifth installment of any movie isn't exactly going to set the world on fire. The story is simple, but not terrible. The writers probably knew this, so when the producers said “Let's do another Leprechaun movie, but let's have black people it!” they probably sighed, put on BET, and copied most of the dialogue and story from rap videos. The movie actually feels like it was supposed to be a Friday-style urban comedy and had some Leprechaun thrown in. It certainly feels like Warwick Davis gets lesser film time in favor of rap scenes. Ice-T is great in his role and you can definitely see why he's been on TV for years.

The movie has a good amount of humor, though it does feel dated at times. For example, there is a brief cameo of Coolio. Nothing says hip like seeing Coolio in 2012. There are some good kills throughout with some decent blood and gore. There really isn't much fear or suspense throughout as it seems they just went for comedy. The final scene in which Leprechaun raps is both funny and baffling at the same time. I'll repeat that: Leprechaun raps. He's flanked by his mind-controlled zombie Fly Girls. I actually think this scene is out of order, because earlier in the movie, Leprechaun uses the fly girls with no introduction. In the final scene, we see the girls first become mind-controlled. It messes with the continuity, but maybe they thought it was just funnier at the end of the movie.

Foshizzle my Leprizzle

Leprechaun In The Hood takes the very basic premise of the earlier movies and dumps the franchise in Compton. There are some genuinely funny moments, but plenty of unfunny ones as well. The humor takes away most of the horror and suspense, but there are still some fun kills and blood. Warwick Davis unfortunately does not receive enough screen time, but owns every scene he is in. Ice-T was just as good as Mack Daddy. If you wanted to see a Leprechaun smoke pot and spit some mad rhymes, this is for you. While it may not be the best in the franchise, it's still better than Leprechaun 4: In Space.

6/10