Movie Review Leprechaun

Leprechaun (1993) 

Directed by Mark Jones

Written by Mark Jones 

Starring Warwick Davis, Jennifer Aniston, Ken Olandt, Mark Holton 

Release Date January 8th 1993 

Published January 9th, 2023 

Reflecting the movie Leprechaun 30 years later, it's a movie that should not exist. To steal phrase from a popular podcast, 'How did this Get Made?' How did a filmmaker look at a box of Lucky Charms and think to himself: Leprechaun horror movie. The existence of Leprechaun is perplexing enough but then, when you actually watch the movie, the questions only grow. This bizarre amalgamation of horror tropes, looney tunes gags, and endless continuity errors is undeniably entertaining but not for many of the reasons the filmmakers intended. 

Leprechaun begins on the sight of our titular anti-hero, the Leprechaun (Warwick Davis), savoring his pot of gold. Then, smash cut to a limousine somewhere in North Dakota. Inside the limo is Dan O'Grady (Shay Duffin), fresh from a trip to Ireland and flush with new found money. It seems that Mr. O'Grady, at some point unseen by us, captured and robbed the Leprechaun of his precious gold. Unfortunately for Dan and his beloved wife, Mrs. O'Grady (Pamela Mant), the Leprechaun wasn't keen on this idea and has followed Dan back to America for revenge. 

Cut to 10 years later. Dan O'Grady is gone after having trapped the Leprechaun in a crate in his basement with the aid of a four leaf clover, the kryptonite of the Leprechaun world. A father and daughter, J.D and Tory Redding, John Sanderford and Jennifer Aniston, are moving into the former home of the O'Grady's. Through a series of coincidences involving the unusual trio of young men hired to paint their new home, the titular Leprechaun escapes and goes on a rampage in search of his lost gold. 

Leprechaun began life as a straight ahead horror movie. Writer-Director Mark Jones admits that he looked at a box of Lucky Charms and that's where the idea came from. What with Halloween and Christmas having successfully launched horror franchises, why not St. Patrick's Day? That kind of mercenary logic is how you get something as strange and memorable as Leprechaun. This was 100% not a passion project for anyone, it was strictly a means to creating a cheap, repeatable holiday horror franchise. 

The only element that no one could have predicted was how much actor Warwick Davis would take to his Leprechaun character. The beloved star of Willow appears to delight in the role of a murderous Leprechaun. Davis is having a blast in this big broad character and it's hard not to enjoy just how much he is enjoying the nonsense he's involved in. Little of what he does or that the character is capable of makes any lick of sense, but Davis performs all the nonsense with such relish you can't help but have a little fun. 

Click here for my full length review at Horror.Media 

Classic Movie Review Giant

Giant (1956) 

Directed by George Stevens 

Written by Fred Guiol, Ivan Moffat

Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker 

Release Date November 24th. 1956 

Published January 8th, 2023 

The latest presentation of The Film Foundation is the 1956 epic, Giant, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean. It's the story of money and privilege on the growing Texas prairie of 1956, a time when cattle and oil battled for land and financial supremacy. And a rare moment where a woman confronted the sexism of the time to demand her place in the world. It's also a 3 hour plus movie that takes a while to get to a place where something genuinely interesting takes place. 

The story kicks in when Jordan 'Bick' Benedict, travels to Maryland to purchase an expensive horse. The rich man selling the horse happens to have a beautiful daughter, Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor), who challenges him and within days of his arrival, becomes his wife. The two return to Texas where Bick's sister, Luz (Carroll Baker) is less than welcoming of her new sister in-law. Their conflict plays out quickly with Luz's death bringing an end to the brief chapter. 

Luz's death precipitates a rivalry between Bick and Luz's favorite ranch hand, Jett Rink (James Dean), who refuses to take Bick's money. Instead, he takes a piece of Bick's land that is believed to be relatively worthless. This being Texas however, the property is soon found to be valuable, bursting with oil. This furthers the rivalry between Jet and Bick, though that really takes a while to develop. Just as soon as Jet is pumping oil, the film jumps more than a decade into the future. 

I am embarrassed to say this, but it is true, I was bored throughout Giant. I recognize the large story being told and the skillful way in which George Stevens captures it all, but the story failed to grab me. I just couldn't stay interested in the sexless, chemistry free relationship of Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. They have three kids, but they have the romantic chemistry of acquaintances who happen to be married. The separate beds they sleep in are a sign of the times in 1956 but they are also, unintentionally symbolic of Hudson and Taylor's lack of bedroom compatibility. 

Then, there is James Dean, a legend who died young and left a blazing legacy. The James Dean of Giant is a creepy weirdo, a wiry, weird little troll of a man. He's supposedly the villain of the picture but he's so rarely on screen in the first two hours of Giant that he hardly registers beyond his deeply mannered and strange performance. The intention appears to be to make Jett Rink the big bad guy of the movie, but he doesn't really do much aside from some of the hammiest drunk acting I've ever seen in a movie. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review Firenado

Firenado (2022) 

Directed by Rhys Frake Waterfield, Scott Jeffrey 

Written by Tom Joliffe 

Starring Sian Altman, Nicola Wright, Stephen Staley

Release Date January 3rd, 2023 

Published December 29th, 2022 

Firenado is as dopey and low rent as that title indicates. It's also kind of fun, as that title implies. The story goes that a group of weather scientists figured out a new way to study tornados with the ultimate goal of controlling a tornado. Finding a tornado in a remote area, the group lets loose their technology only to accidentally grow the tornado beyond their control. Naturally, because the movie is called Firenardo, the out of control and over-powered tornado passes over the top of a gas station. 

While pressing the boundaries of credibility, the gas pumps light the tornado on fire and the tornado grows further out of control. Our group of scientists, including Anna (Sian Altman), a student learning about meteorology, Helena (Nicola Wright) an assistant to the professor in charge of the experiment, Professor Devlin (Toby Wynn Davies). There is another guy there too, but he doesn't matter much. He's a brief comic relief character who is offed quickly amid the early destruction of the tornado. 

There is a secondary plot in Firenado because apparently stopping a tornado that is on fire is not enough for one movie. Thus, we get a heist plot. A group of criminal's plans to enact a heist in the midst of the storm. Unaware that the tornado they are planning to use for cover has become a firenado, the criminals attack a safe house where an accountant, Pierce Moore (Daniel Godfrey), is hiding out with millions of dollars. 

Somehow, the scientists are also on their way to this safe house. The scientists are working their way across the countryside warning people to run from the Firenado with minimal success. They happen to arrive at the safe house just as the criminals do and a shootout ensues, somehow, until the firenado catches up. Then we get a chase scene and another multi-million dollar safe house and a burgeoning romance between Pierce and Anna and it's... a lot. It's a lot. 

You might be surprised to know that a fire tornado, or Firenado, is a real thing. Not the way it happens in this movie, obviously, but they do happen. It's rare but, most often they occur related to atmospheric conditions surrounding forest fires. There is little, really no chance that a tornado hitting a gas station will lead to a 'Firenado,' as happens in this movie. That said, of course, this movie is not based on any real danger. Instead, Firenado is a very silly B-movie looking to capitalize on the already dated trend of placing odd things inside of Tornados like Sharks, Ghosts, Dinosaurs, and Cars. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media