Ranking All 8 Movies in the Leprechaun Franchise

In the grand scheme of long-running horror IPs that have been critically trounced, Leprechaun is far more Puppet Master than Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street. In other words, none of them are actually legitimately good films, but there is enough within some of the eight (count ’em, eight) films to determine that some are better than others. If there’s one outright positive thing that can be said about (most) of the franchise as a whole, it’s that it gave Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Willow‘s Warwick Davis a long-term gig, and it’s because of him that the ludicrous saga’s best entries work at all.

Davis starred in the first six films and, for the most part, those six are the “best.” The two efforts to replace him have been failures because he simply brings too much to the role. Davis is far better than each of the movies that surround him, but ca onsummate professional that he is, he clearly did all he could to elevate them. Even still, another reboot is on its way, so even without the actor the franchise has life in it yet.

8) Leprechaun: Origins

It’s truly hard to know what those behind Leprechaun: Origins were thinking. For one, the title creature looks far more like one of the cave dwellers from The Descent than the semi-iconic take crafted by Davis. This element in particular is even more confounding considering they hired Hornswoggle, a wrestler known for dressing up like a Leprechaun, to play the role. Why then turn the antagonist into a skeletal beastie that not once even speaks?

There’s really nothing about Leprechaun: Origins that works, from its lack of humor to its almost full absence of daylight (perhaps they took a page out of Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla playbook where the poorly rendered CGI monster was perpetually pelted by rain). The best thing that can be said about Origins is that it serves as a Freddy vs. Jason reunion, considering it features both Garry Chalk and Brendan Fletcher.

7) Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood

Given how Leprechaun in the Hood did quite well on video, it’s surprising that the atrociously titled sequel, Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood, chose to ignore every single element of its predecessor. It’s certainly not the first time the franchise has dropped something that seemed somewhat key, though (see how the Leprechaun could be distracted by the need to shine dirty shoes in the original film and then never again).

Leprechaun in the Hood was already pretty rough, but Back 2 tha Hood is even worse. It’s also the cheapest-looking entry featuring Davis, which is odd considering it was his final entry after playing the title antagonist for 10 years straight. The only real positives here are that Davis is still having some fun, The Boys‘ Laz Alonso is one of the leads, and there’s even a role for The Meg‘s Page Kennedy.

6) Leprechaun 4: In Space

Coming on the heels of Critters‘ fourth installment, both Leprechaun and Hellraiser decided to send their villains to space for their respective quadrilogy-cappers. Like Jason X a few years later, none of them are remotely good, but Leprechaun 4: In Space may very well be the worst of the bunch.

Admittedly, it’s such a bonkers pile of nonsense that some of the franchise’s fans actually find it to rank towards the top, but there’s very little to defend it otherwise. Sure, it has Davis holding a lightsaber, in what could be considered a callback to his role as Wicket in Return of the Jedi and features Miguel A. Núñez Jr. (Friday the 13th: A New Beginning and Return of the Living Dead) and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Jackie Denardo herself, Jessica Collins, but for the most part, it’s just a shameless Aliens rip-off.

5) Leprechaun in the Hood

After going to space, what else could they have Davis’ Leprechaun do? Smoke pot and go up against Ice-T, of course. Straying even further from horror than the initial four films, Leprechaun in the Hood still has the franchise’s core plot intact. Specifically, a group of characters steal something from the Leprechaun (in this case a magic flute as opposed to one of his precious gold coins) and he tears his way through them and their friends.

Naturally, Leprechaun in the Hood is inherently problematic when it comes to race relations, but for the most part, it’s relatively inoffensive. And all due credit to Ice-T’s charm because he has fun as “Mack Daddy O’Nassas.” Not to mention, the late Coolio even showed up as himself, so that has to count for something.

[RELATED: Nearly the Entire Leprechaun Franchise is Streaming in One Place for St. Patrick’s Day]

4) Leprechaun Returns

It’s not saying much, but Leprechaun Returns is a night and day improvement over Leprechaun: Origins. At least Returns attempts to stick to the well-established DNA of the IP. Oh, and it has a Leprechaun that actually looks like a Leprechaun. All due respect to Linden Porco because, while Davis is irreplaceable, Porco gives it his best shot.

Another element that helps elevate Leprechaun Returns over Origins and even a few of the Davis movies is its attempts to actually be scary while retaining the comedic backbone of the franchise. Origins dispelled of the humor entirely and was all the more a slog for it. Lastly, what makes Returns one of the higher-ranking entries is that it serves as a direct sequel to the original film. Like David Gordon Green’s Halloween from the same year, Leprechaun Returns discards every sequel and continues the narrative of the original film, including the focus on the daughter of Jennifer Aniston’s character and including a small role for the 1993 movie’s Mark Holton (who played Ozzie)

3) Leprechaun

More often than not, the first installment of a long-running horror IP is the best installment of that horror IP. Not so with Leprechaun. Initially intended as a straightforward horror film, Davis brought a great deal of humor to his cackling performance that simultaneously fully deflates any potential it had at being scary and makes it a film with at least one redeeming element. That’s not quite the backhanded compliment it sounds like, because if the movie had gone for straightforward horror with an actor not of Davis’ caliber, it still would have been a laughingstock, just not in an intentional way.

And, of course, there’s a cultural curiosity factor to the original Leprechaun considering it served as Jennifer Aniston’s feature film debut, just one year shy of Friends‘ pilot. To her credit, Aniston gives her central role all she has, and even so early in her career and with such an annoying character, she manages to display some chops in her line readings. It makes sense she’s embarrassed by the film, but she does elevate it nearly as much as Davis. Even still, the best element may very well be the pogo stick kill, which stands as the second-best of the franchise (more on the very best kill in the number one ranked entry).

2) Leprechaun 2

Leprechaun 2 actually benefits from being seemingly uninterested in picking up the threads of the first film (likely because Aniston was a hard “no” on returning for sequels). Instead, it kicks off with a flashback from long ago then speeds up to modern times (a.k.a. the ’90s). In the flashback, he has his eyes on his servant’s daughter. When the servant breaks the spell the Leprechaun is trying to cast, the Leprechaun swears revenge and promises to engage in a courtship with one of the servant’s descendants.

As far as core plotlines go, Leprechaun 2‘s is the best. It’s a personal quest for vengeance which helps give it some stakes for the human characters, all of whom are still either as irritating or as disposable as those seen in the rest of the movies. But even on that front, the first sequel has Sandy Baron (Seinfeld‘s Jack Klompus) and Clint Howard as scene-stealers as well as a fun cameo from Mad TV and Halloween Kills‘ Michael McDonald.

1) Leprechaun 3

As the Leprechaun franchise wore on, the title character started to share increasing similarities to Freddy Krueger. Robert Englund’s A Nightmare on Elm Street character would spout out one-liners, especially starting with the third installment, and so, too, does Davis’ Lubdan (the Leprechaun’s real name). Krueger’s kills became more elaborate, so, too, did Lubdan’s.

Most critically, though, was the fact the kills started to become tailored to the victim’s vices or vanities. This was done the best in Leprechaun 3, which is not so coincidentally the best film of the franchise by quite a bit. For instance, a nude woman turns into a murder bot to kill a casino owner, and the Leprechaun inflates a casino employee’s lips, breasts, and backside until all three explode in unison (the latter of which is the franchise’s best scene, made all the better given the casino employee is played by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2‘s Caroline Williams). The central plot of the protagonist becoming a Leprechaun himself is utterly cringe-worthy, but at least the film tried. Leprechaun 3 is without a doubt the best of a bad bunch.

What’s your favorite Leprechaun movie? Sound off in the comments!