Leprechaun 4: In Space (1996) Trimark/Comedy-Sci-Fi-Horror RT: 95 minutes Rated R (language, horror violence, some sexuality) Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith Screenplay: Dennis Pratt Music: Dennis Michael Tenney Cinematography: David Lewis Release date: February 25, 1997 (US, video) Cast: Warwick Davis, Brent Jasmer, Jessica Collins, Guy Siner, Gary Grossman, Rebekah Carlton, Tim Colceri, Miguel A. Nunez Jr., Debbe Dunning, Michael Cannizzo, Rick Peters, Geoff Meed, Ladd York, James W. Quinn (voice). Box Office: N/A
Rating: ***
Question, how do you know when a horror franchise has run out of ideas? The answer is in the title Leprechaun 4: In Space. How, you may ask, did Leprechaun end up in space? Good question. I don’t know. Nobody does. It’s never explained. He’s just there. It’s just one of life’s baffling mysteries.
Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith, back for more after Leprechaun 3 the year before, the futuristic-set Leprechaun 4 borrows liberally from a few well-known sci-fi movies, Aliens (1986) most notably. It also contains elements of Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979) and The Fly (1986). Like its immediate predecessor, it bypassed cinemas and went straight to video in Feb. ’97. Apparently, 3 did well enough to warrant an in-name-only follow-up. As I’m sure some of you know, none of these Leprechauns have anything to do with each other aside from the title mythological creature played to perfection by Warwick Davis (Willow). So what’s the little green-blooded monster up to this time? Why, he’s looking to rule the planet of Dominia. He plans to go about it in a rather Shakespearean way.
In the film’s opening scene, Leprechaun is holding Princess Zarina (Carlton, Baywatch) prisoner until she agrees to marry him. It’s part of his evil plan to do away with her dad and then her (after the wedding night, of course) in order to ascend to the throne. Okay, fine, whatever. I still want to know how the hell he ended up…. IN SPACE!!! Sorry not sorry, had to be done.
What Leprechaun didn’t count on was the regiment of space mercenaries who’ve come to deal with the unknown alien lifeform (i.e. Leprechaun) interfering with mining operations on the planet. These guys (and one girl) are right out of Aliens! The squad consists of Books (Jasmer, Hot Times at Montclair High), Sticks (Nunez, Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning), Danny (Cannizzo, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2), Kowalski (Meed, Kickboxer 5), Lucky (York, Night of the Demons 2), Mooch (Peters, Night of the Demons 2) and Dolores (Dunning, Home Improvement). They’re joined on their mission by the ship’s biological officer Dr. Tina Reeves (Collins, Best of the Best 4). Led by Master Sgt. Hooker (Colceri, Full Metal Jacket), they hit the surface with guns drawn and trigger fingers at the ready.
Shortly after their arrival, one of the soldiers tries to steal Leprechaun’s gold only to be dispatched via a light saber (green, of course) to the ass. Then the unthinkable happens. Leprechaun is killed, blown to pieces with a grenade, no four leaf clovers or medallions involved (?!!). Kowalski celebrates their victory by pissing on the corpse. Bad idea, grunt! A green light travels up the pee stream and into his penis. OUCH! If you think that’s bad, wait until you see what happens later on the ship. It’s fate worse than John Hurt’s death in Alien.
The group returns to ship where they report to the guy really running the show, the German-accented Dr. Mittenhand (Siner, Lost Highway). They have with them the unconscious princess. Dr. Reeves thinks they should return her to her home planet as a means of improving diplomatic relations. Mittenhand has other plans for her. He’s a cyborg and needs her regenerative DNA to rebuild his body. Meanwhile, the mercs celebrate their successful mission with a little party. Kowalski and Dolores sneak off to have a quick screw. That’s when it happens. When he becomes aroused, Leprechaun emerges from his love rod. BIG OUCH! The reborn creature is now free to roam the ship and take everybody out. Oh yeah, his bag of gold is also on board. He wants it back.
In his travels through the ship, Leprechaun encounters Doc M experimenting with Zarina’s DNA. He doesn’t like that one bit. She’s his ticket to wealth and power (on another planet, but W&P is still W&P). He decides to make a change to the serum. He puts it in a blender along with a tarantula and a scorpion, mixes it all up and injects it into the horrified mad doctor. It turns him into “Mittenspider”, a grotesque monster who could very well be a direct descendent of Brundlefly. Now the surviving characters have something else to worry about.
Despite the three stars at the top of this review, I don’t want any of you thinking Leprechaun 4 is a good movie. It’s not. It’s quite bad actually. For starters, it goes where many a horror franchise has gone to die….. IN SPACE!!! LOL! That never gets old! Leprechaun isn’t the only boogeyman to visit the final frontier. The Critters went there too (Critters 4). So did Pinhead (Hellraiser: Bloodline) and Jason Voorhees (Jason X). And let’s not forget Amityville in Space. I know, Pinhead and Jason did return in subsequent earthbound installments, but the fact that they went to space at all shows the writers hit a creative wall.
While Leprechaun 4 is indeed a bad movie, it’s one of the ones that achieve greatness based on the level of badness. The series has never been known for intelligence; they’ve all been pretty idiotic. This one is a special kind of idiotic. It has all the usual elements of a DTV B-movie horror sequel- bad acting, dopey dialogue, gratuitous (brief) nudity, cheesy sets and effects and a mish-mash of a screenplay. Written by Dennis Pratt (Kickboxer 3), it’s a virtual cornucopia of ideas from other sci-fi movies- e.g. the trash compactor from Star Wars- strung together by the presence of Leprechaun. Originality isn’t a strong point with these movies, but you know that.
Davis, ever the consummate professional, is all in as the titular character….. IN SPACE!!! He doesn’t get off as many good lines as in previous installments. He does, however, get to do a soliloquy almost worthy of the Bard himself:
“The path to power is often soiled with innocent blood, and I will let nothing stop me from becoming king. I’ll have power and glory, and a beautiful queen to share it with. Share… Now there’s a word that lies crooked upon me. The very sound of it sends my teeth to grate and conjures up pictures of me gold being carted off to pay for feminine pleasures, leaving me with less than what I want, and what I want is everything. I’ll wed her, bed her and bury her all in the same day. I wonder if her father will pay for the wedding AND the funeral.”
Pure poetry, is it not? He later says, “As Shakespeare said, s*** happens.” remind me, what play was that in? Was it Hamlet? Macbeth? Much Ado About Nothing?
As for the rest of the cast, all of the soldiers (save for Dolores) seem to be attempting an imitation of Bill Paxton’s character from Aliens. It’s hilarious. Colceri, on the other hand, emulates his Full Metal Jacket co-star R. Lee Ermey as the gung ho commanding officer. He’s a jarhead on steroids. Collins walks around with a blank expression and tough girl attitude. Carlton is HOT! She’s the one we get to see topless. She flashes her boobs and says, “Look upon them and know that you are forever doomed.” What the hell does that mean, you ask? Doc Reeves explains it best: “Don’t get too excited, boys. On the planet Dominia, when a woman of royal blood shows you her breasts, it’s a death sentence.” to which Sticks replies, “And what part of her anatomy is she gonna kill me with?”
Siner camps it up into the infinite reaches of space as the possibly Nazi scientist as does Gary Grossman (Bachelor Party) as his crummy little toadie Harold. The latter gets the coolest death scene in the movie when his head is flattened like a pancake by a metal serving platter. These bad guys are right out of a bizarre cartoon.
I shouldn’t have enjoyed Leprechaun 4 as much as I did. I know it yet I’m not ashamed. I’m at an age where I no longer give a s*** about credibility. I’m a movie critic, but I’m not a frigging snob about it. Not really. I enjoy trashy flicks like this. They take me back to my misspent youth as a connoisseur of cinematic garbage. I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow my love of B-movies. I’ll keep watching them for however long I have left….. ON EARTH!!! Nope, doesn’t have the same ring to it. 
