{"id":13763,"date":"2026-01-05T15:30:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T20:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=13763"},"modified":"2026-01-05T15:30:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T20:30:56","slug":"leprechaun-4-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2026\/01\/05\/leprechaun-4-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Leprechaun 4: In Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Leprechaun 4: In Space<\/strong> (1996)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Trimark\/Comedy-Sci-Fi-Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 95 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, horror violence, some sexuality)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Dennis Pratt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Dennis Michael Tenney\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: David Lewis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: February 25, 1997 (US, video)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: N\/A<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0Question, how do you know when a horror franchise has run out of ideas? The answer is in the title Leprechaun 4: In Space<\/strong>. How, you may ask, did Leprechaun end up in space? Good question. I don\u2019t know. Nobody does. It\u2019s never explained. He\u2019s just there. It\u2019s just one of life\u2019s baffling mysteries.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith, back for more after Leprechaun 3 the year before, the futuristic-set Leprechaun 4<\/strong> 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. \u201997. Apparently, 3 did well enough to warrant an in-name-only follow-up. As I\u2019m 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\u2019s the little green-blooded monster up to this time? Why, he\u2019s looking to rule the planet of Dominia. He plans to go about it in a rather Shakespearean way.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In the film\u2019s opening scene, Leprechaun is holding Princess Zarina (Carlton, Baywatch) prisoner until she agrees to marry him. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What Leprechaun didn\u2019t count on was the regiment of space mercenaries who\u2019ve 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<\/sup> 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\u2019re joined on their mission by the ship\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Shortly after their arrival, one of the soldiers tries to steal Leprechaun\u2019s 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\u2019s bad, wait until you see what happens later on the ship. It\u2019s fate worse than John Hurt\u2019s death in Alien.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In his travels through the ship, Leprechaun encounters Doc M experimenting with Zarina\u2019s DNA. He doesn\u2019t like that one bit. She\u2019s 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 \u201cMittenspider\u201d, a grotesque monster who could very well be a direct descendent of Brundlefly. Now the surviving characters have something else to worry about.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Despite the three stars at the top of this review, I don\u2019t want any of you thinking Leprechaun 4<\/strong> is a good movie. It\u2019s not. It\u2019s 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\u2019t 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0While Leprechaun 4<\/strong> is indeed a bad movie, it\u2019s one of the ones that achieve greatness based on the level of badness. The series has never been known for intelligence; they\u2019ve 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\u2019s 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\u2019t a strong point with these movies, but you know that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Davis, ever the consummate professional, is all in as the titular character….. IN SPACE!!! He doesn\u2019t get off as many good lines as in previous installments. He does, however, get to do a soliloquy almost worthy of the Bard himself:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pure poetry, is it not? He later says, \u201cAs Shakespeare said, s*** happens.\u201d remind me, what play was that in? Was it Hamlet? Macbeth? Much Ado About Nothing?<\/p>\n

\u00a0As for the rest of the cast, all of the soldiers (save for Dolores) seem to be attempting an imitation of Bill Paxton\u2019s character from Aliens. It\u2019s hilarious. Colceri, on the other hand, emulates his Full Metal Jacket co-star R. Lee Ermey as the gung ho commanding officer. He\u2019s a jarhead on steroids. Collins walks around with a blank expression and tough girl attitude. Carlton is HOT! She\u2019s the one we get to see topless. She flashes her boobs and says, \u201cLook upon them and know that you are forever doomed.\u201d What the hell does that mean, you ask? Doc Reeves explains it best: \u201cDon’t get too excited, boys. On the planet Dominia, when a woman of royal blood shows you her breasts, it’s a death sentence.\u201d to which Sticks replies, \u201cAnd what part of her anatomy is she gonna kill me with?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Siner 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I shouldn\u2019t have enjoyed Leprechaun 4<\/strong> as much as I did. I know it yet I\u2019m not ashamed. I\u2019m at an age where I no longer give a s*** about credibility. I\u2019m a movie critic, but I\u2019m 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\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever outgrow my love of B-movies. I\u2019ll keep watching them for however long I have left….. ON EARTH!!! Nope, doesn\u2019t have the same ring to it. \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leprechaun 4: In Space (1996)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Trimark\/Comedy-Sci-Fi-Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 95 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, horror violence, some sexuality)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Dennis Pratt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Dennis Michael Tenney\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: David Lewis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: February 25, 1997 (US, video)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Warwick Davis, Brent Jasmer, Jessica Collins, Guy Siner, Gary Grossman, Rebekah Carlton, Tim Colceri, Miguel A. Nunez Jr., […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,18,9,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-b-movies","category-comedies","category-guilty-pleasures","category-sequels-remakes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Leprechaun-4-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13763"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13767,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13763\/revisions\/13767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}