Day 28. Todays selection released in 2000 is “Leprechaun In The Hood”. It’s the fifth film in the “Leprechaun” series. What more can I say…?

Rob Spera who has currently been directing episodes, of the television shows “Army Wives”, and “Criminal Minds”, is the man behind “Leprechaun In The Hood”. Warwick Davis (if you’ve never seen “Willow”, it’s a must) reprises his role as the title character ‘Leprechaun’. Ice-T portrays gangster rap mogul ‘Mack Daddy’. Anthony Montgomery, Rashaan Nall, and Red Grant, are all in the film as ‘Postmaster-P’, ‘Stray Bullet’, and ‘Butch’. Coolio has a small cameo himself.

On a dark twisting staircase the Leprechaun sits with his pot of gold, and recites a poem. Cut to Mack Daddy in some fly 70′s garb, rocking a gigantic afro. He and his companion Slug discover the pot of gold. Finding a statue of the Leprechaun with a gold necklace on it, Slug makes a huge mistake. Ice-T’s reaction to his friend’s demise was comical. It can be seen now on “Law and Order” how much he has improved as an actor. By accident, Mack Daddy is able to subdue the Leprechaun. Now during present day in Compton, CA. we meet Postmaster-P, Stray Bullet, and their DJ. Butch. The group auditions to be in a contest being held at a club. Due to a technical hitch, things don’t go as planned. The explosion and the two rappers flying off of the stage was so corny. I had to watch the scene twice to make sure what I saw had really happened. There’s no way I can take this movie seriously, because the performances, story, and dialogue was so bad.

Postmaster-P and his boys hang out, try to hustle a pawn shop, and just generally talk trash amongst themselves. The trio comes across Mack Daddy, who is now a popular gangster rapper courtesy of a magical golden flute. Stray Bullet explains some of Mack Daddy’s back story. Pleading to Mack Daddy for a record deal, he decides to give them a shot. Only on the condition that they change the content of their music from having positive messages, to being more gangster. Which, sort of reflected what was going on within the rap genre at that time. Things go wrong for the trio, so Stray Bullet suggests that they rob Mack Daddy. Postmaster-P is hesitant and leaves, while Stray Bullet and Butch are hype about the prospect of getting money. At the meeting place before the robbery Postmaster-P decides to go through with it and meets up with his friends. As Postmaster is walking up to them Butch asks Stary Bullet “Who the f#$k is that?”. Which made absolutely no sense, because they were just together, they are friends, and also in the same music group together!

At the break in Butch places explosives on each side of a transparent box, which the Leprechaun wearing a gold necklace is encased. Mack Daddy arrives causing Postmaster-P and Butch each to make grave mistakes. The Leprechaun awakens says a rhyme and the trio start blasting on him, with their guns sideways, gangsta style. Miraculously Mack Daddy survives this ordeal and runs off. Later inside a nightclub’s bathroom, to calm his nerves, Mack Daddy smokes a joint. The Leprechaun appears and Mack Daddy passes the joint to him. In which the Leprechaun hilariously responds by saying “A friend with weed, is a friend indeed”. Up to now the movie had not been scary or suspenseful at all. Tasked with having to recover the gold that was stolen by the trio, Mack Daddy escapes with his life. Not without leaving something of personal value behind. As the Leprechaun discovers the joy of rap music, someone at the bar confronts the creature and is subsequently shocked to death. The special EFX were extremely cheap looking and probably some of the worst I’ve ever seen. Plus the victim had nothing to do with the plot, so the killing was completely random. Back at the pawn shop from earlier, the group trades their stolen loot, for money and audio equipment. Postmaster-P then unwittingly makes a discovery having to do with the magical golden flute, which is now in his possession. For being portrayed as a sensible character, he is ultimately an idiot. The Leprechaun sensing where all his gold is, goes on a search killing people one by one. The trio of friends then must figure out how to escape from the Leprechaun and also Mack Daddy who is hot on their tail looking to retrieve the flute.

I recommend “Leprechaun In The Hood”. Not because of how frightening it is (which it isn’t), but because this movie is completely hilarious. Although there are some death scenes and gore, this entry into the series plays like a hood movie that is more funny than serious, with the filmmakers tossing in a side of horror and bad acting. From movie to movie, the plot never changes. Someone discovers and steals the Leprechauns gold, and he kills a bunch of people until he gets it back. The Leprechaun rap at the end alone is what makes this movie worth sitting through. His delivery is off-beat and the song is completely ridiculous. Go into “Leprechaun In The Hood” expecting the worst and you will thoroughly enjoy it!

October: 31 days X 31 horror movie reviews- "Leprechaun In The Hood", 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating