Leprechaun is another one of those horror franchises that goes on and on, sequel after sequel, new cast and crew every time, all that jazz, but unlike its fellow horror franchises like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, Leprechaun doesn't even try to be good. They're all unconscionably dumb. Self-aware, but dumb. There isn't even a thread of a narrative to connect the movies other than there's an evil leprechaun who speaks in ridiculous rhymes and needs his gold and will kill anyone in his way to get it. But for any fan of camp, Leprechaun may be the horror franchise for you. And I'm using horror in the absolute loosest sense of the word because I got more shivers down my spine watching Jack and Jill than I did during any of these movies. What puts it in the horror category is simply the fact that it's an evil entity that likes to kill people, and there's bountiful gore and T&A.
Having said all that, Leprechaun 3 is probably the best in the series. There's something oddly fitting about the Leprechaun running around Vegas using real magic to fool gamblers and phony magicians, which makes for some entertaining developments. The cast is passable. Discussing the acting in a Leprechaun movie is as fruitful as analyzing the intricacies between Adam Sandler's Jack and Adam Sandler's Jill (I don't know why Jack and Jill is my go-to comparison but sure, why not). But overall, it's passable; a huge improvement over Leprechaun 2's acting which was just infuriating to watch. The movie actually has a plot, too! One of the Leprechaun's gold coins falls into the wrong hands and goes from person to person in a casino, granting the holder whatever they wish for. Again, story-wise this is by far the most practical of the Leprechaun movies.
What prevents this from being a great movie is the fact that it's vehemently stupid. I know that's the point, but there were moments where Leprechaun 3 felt like a legitimately decent movie. I enjoyed where the plot was going, the Leprechaun was throwing some classic one-liners, the deaths were highly amusing, but then it would shift gears and focus on a particular character or subplot that no one cares about and it would kill its momentum. If the whole movie focused on the main narrative of the coin going 'round and 'round the casino and the Leprechaun having to go through hurdles to find it and kill every poor sap in his path, it would've been a good movie. But they throw in crap like the Leprechaun now has werewolf powers so if he bites someone, they'll also turn into a leprechaun. Also before the Leprechaun actually gets to the casino, the movie is really boring. It's like ten minutes of the Leprechaun antagonizing some random store owner and spitting out stupid dialogue for the sake of spitting out stupid dialogue with no advancement to the plot.
Truthfully, I enjoyed this movie. A lot more than I thought I would actually. The first Leprechaun was decent, just barely, because Jennifer Aniston was great eye-candy. The second one was an abomination even by camp horror standards. This is one of those instances where the third time really is a charm. I mean, it's not much of a charm, but it accomplishes what it sets out to. It's amusing, it's ridiculous, basically the quintessential stoner horror movie, and it reaches the potential that its predecessors missed. Now, is it a good movie? Get the f*ck out of here. You know it's not. But is it a fun watch? Sure it is, especially if you're under the influence of a foreign substance. Even then, as far as campy horror movies go, you could do a lot worse than Leprechaun 3. You could do a lot better, too.
