2007-06-26 - 1:29 a.m.
Why Leprechaun is one of the greatest horror villains of all time
I love horror movies.
When I watch them, I don�t need a plot.
I don�t need decent acting.
I don�t need quality cinematography.
I don�t need any of that.
What I want are cheap thrills,
Buckets of blood,
Scantily clad women,
And entertaining villains.
If you�re interested in reading further, I�m going to focus on that last part- entertaining villains.
I have personally arrived at a point in which I have come to believe that the most unique, complicated, and noteworthy horror villain is not
Freddy Krueger,
Nor Michael Myers,
Nor Jason Voorhees,
Nor Jaws,
Nor Norman Bates,
Nor the Devil�
No, none of these.
Ladies and gentlemen, as I see it�
one of the greatest horror villains is Leprechaun.
Here are some quick facts to provide you with some background if you are unfamiliar with Leprechaun.
-Leprechaun is a horror character whom Mark Jones created in 1993.
-Leprechaun is played by dwarf actor, Warwick Davis.
-The Leprechaun franchise consists of six films: Leprechaun (1993), Leprechaun 2 (1994), Leprechaun 3: Leprechaun in Vegas (1995), Leprechaun 4: Leprechaun in Space (1997), Leprechaun 5: Leprechaun in the Hood (2000), and Leprechaun 6: Leprechaun Back in Da Hood (2003).
-The plot of each film mainly revolves around foolish mortals finding and keeping the Leprechaun�s gold. When Leprechaun attempts to retrieve his gold, anyone who stands in his way ends up dying in either a crazily, inventive way (Leprechaun casting a spell that makes a victim throw himself into a spinning, razor-sharp fan which the victim believed was a beautiful nude woman)� or a ludicrously simple way (Leprechaun beating a man to death with a lead pipe).
-Each film effectively combines comedy and horror.
Ok, now back to the villain himself.
THESIS: Leprechaun is perhaps the most uniquely complicated horror villain ever to grace the silver screen, due to the fact that he is actually reasonable. Big emphasis on �reasonable.�
Reasonable is defined as:
- agreeable to reason or sound judgment; logical.
- capable of rational behavior, decision, etc.
- not exceeding the limit prescribed by reason; not excessive.
While other horror villains seem to mow down just about anybody, Leprechaun more often than not selects his victims with reason and, to further surprise, mercy.
In basic terms, if you�re not messing with his gold, he could actually be your chum.
I present my evidence:
-Leprechaun in Vegas: A middle-eastern pawn shop owner has some of Leprechaun�s gold in his possession. Leprechaun comes for it and, after a curiously prolonged bout with the pawn shop owner, re-acquires his gold. It is worth noting that Leprechaun does not actually kill the pawn shop owner. Instead, after finally getting the gold, Leprechaun heads toward the exit. It isn�t until the greedy, beaten down pawn shop owner makes one last attempt to get the gold back� that Leprechaun finally turns around and strangles the ignorant fool to death with a telephone cord. Leprechaun was willing to let the foolish mortal live. In my eyes, the pawn shop owner was murdered by his own mortal greed.
-Leprechaun in Space: A half-human, half-robot cyborg doctor, with some sort of Germanic/European accent, is ridiculed and insulted by almost all of the human characters throughout the film. They call him names and comment on his disabilities behind the doctor�s back. What viewers should note is how a particular scene, in which Leprechaun and this doctor meet for the first time, plays out. When Leprechaun steps into the room, he does not see the cyborg doctor as an ugly, disabled thing. The Leprechaun takes no note of the doctor�s visible differences, and instead treats the cyborg as an equal. This supports notions that Leprechaun is not only reasonable and merciful, but he is also non-judgmental. Wow�
-Leprechaun in the Hood/Leprechaun Back in Da Hood: These films include scenes in which Leprechaun participates in the smoking of illegal narcotics with human characters, one of which is rapper Ice-T. At these points, Leprechaun has forgotten about his gold issues for a very brief time. As Leprechaun himself remarks, he is quite surprised by the �curious aroma,� and he is ultimately pleased with the marijuana which he goes on to call, �the bomb� and �good shit.� These are scenes that further reinforce Leprechaun�s ability to �be part of the group,� socializing and having a good time with mortals. Unfortunately, when the air clears and the idiot mortals refuse to give up the gold, Leprechaun goes back to settling the score (killing one gangsta by shoving the bong up his anus). For God�s sake, just give Leprechaun his fucking gold back!
All in all, the trend is fairly consistent throughout the films: Leprechaun is the reasonable villain, while humans are the victimized, yet downright moronic protagonists.
Everything would be fine and nobody would get hurt if they just gave the gold back� ridiculous.
To conclude, I simply recommend that you watch a couple of these films and see for yourself. You might laugh, you might scream, you might cry, you might even be surprised by the films' presentation of the human condition.
And you just might enjoy the little green lad enough to pick up the �Pot of Gore� DVD box-set.
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By Wes Green
Wednesday June 13, 2007
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