Warwick Davis is back as the little guy from hell and this time he's killing for his pot of gold in the hood.
--Randy
Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood
Directors: Steve Ayromlooi
Producers: Mike Upton
Writers: Steve Ayromlooi
Features: Widescreen, Two Commentaries With The Director Steve Ayromlooi And Warwick Davis, And Another With Ayromlooi And Director Of Photography David Daniel, Trailer, Storyboards, English And Spanish Subtitles, And 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound.
Characters:
The Leprechaun...Warwick Davis
Emily...Tangi Miller
Rory...Laz Alonso
Jamie...Page Kennedy
Lisa...Sherrie Jackson
Esmeralda...Donzaleigh Abernathy
Chanel...Keesha Sharp
Cedric...Sticky Fingaz
Watson...Shiek Mahmud-Bey
Father Jacob...Willie C. Carpenter
Genre: Horror
Review:
You can't keep a bad Leprechaun down as "Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood" demonstrates. Warwick Davis is back for his sixth incarnation as that little unlovable imp from hell. This time out the Leprechaun finds himself in a ghetto neighborhood as he once again seeks out his treasure of gold that has landed in the hands of a group of black friends that have no idea of what they have gotten themselves into. This is director Steve Ayromlooi's first assignment and he was only given three weeks to complete this film. Though it has a non-professional look this film still manages to chill and thrill with a tongue in cheek attitude. The movie is a chip off the old block of any seventies slasher film though it contains no nudity. There is plenty of gore and blood coupled with drugs and guns as this movie is over the top with racial stereotypes. The director is out to have fun and doesn't mind splitting hairs or heads. Ayromlooi knows he will not be up for an Academy Award with this latest chapter in the Leprechaun series and so he is free to let loose with any type of angle he wants. In his commentary, Ayromlooi mentions that Lions Gate Films set no boundaries for him other than this film be set in the hood and he was able to make a few changes in the Leprechaun. For this movie the Leprechaun got an update in his costume with a cloak which Aygromlooi felt would add to his menace.
This movie starts out as a black priest and the Leprechaun fight a battle of magic in a soon to be built youth center construction site. The Leprechaun kills the priest, but not before he is banished into the ground of the site. One year passes and the youth center is shown as never having been built. In the local neighborhood are three young adults that hang out with each other, Emily(Tangi Miller), her friend Lisa(Sherrie Jackson), and Lisa's want-to-be boyfriend Jamie(Page Kennedy). Rounding out the group is an outsider named Rory(Laz Alonso) who deals drugs, but has a soft spot for Emily who disapproves of him and his trade. Complicating all this is a rival drug dealer named Watson(Shiek Mahmud-Bey) and his crony Cedric played by the rapper known as Sticky Fingaz. Emily falls through some rotted boards at the youth center site and finds a small chest of gold coins which brings back the Leprechaun from wherever he was trapped. Now death walks the streets of the hood and no one is safe.
It's refreshing to see a film that is not afraid to offend people. This movie takes the black stereotype and runs with it. Almost everyone in this movie is black, the only exceptions are the Leprechaun(who knows, he might be Black Irish), one policeman and a token white nerd. Of the four black friends, the two males are heavy into drugs. Rory is a drug dealer and Jamie is an over consumer. At Jamie's pad he doesn't just have one bong , but at least four Tommy Chong ones. When Jamie gets his share of the gold he is immediately seen buying two garbage bags full of weed which he proudly transports home. Rory still keeps dealing only now he has bought a new pistol with part of his share and spent most of the remainder on a rival of Emily's. No one has a job except Emily unless you would consider dealing drugs a job. The token white nerd is only in the film as a play on the token black guy seen in almost all white mainstream films. The nerd uses the word "niggerz" to show how down with it he is and is retooled into thinking the cool term is now "ninjas" which the Leprechaun later picks up on as he too trys to get down with it.
What keeps "Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood" from being a mediocre attempt at a horror movie is the attitude of the film. Everyone involved with the film knows that there is a limited budget and a limited time schedule so the general ideal is to not take anything too seriously. Comical happenings occur very frequently in this movie. When the Leprechaun first arrives at Jamie's house there is a party going on with a lot of dope being smoked. One stoner passes a bong to the Leprechaun and he gets high like the rest of the party people. The Leprechaun is then seen stumbling around like a drunk in a cartoon and being too short to be noticed by the spaced out partiers. In this sequence and other spots the Leprechaun is not afraid to get dirty and have fun. He constantly finds himself at the end of a can of whoop ass, but quietly picks himself up to continue his killing spree. When he commandeers a police car the Leprechaun finds out the dilemma of being size handicapped when it comes to reaching the pedals, but in the spirit of the film this obstacle is overcome with a nod to the macabre.
The DVD has two separate commentaries as part of the features. The first commentary has Warwick Davis and Steve Ayromlooi talking about the making of the sixth Leprechaun film. Ayromlooi mentions that Tangi Miller used to be on the television series "Felicity." He calls his method guerilla filmmaking. One scene had to be written on Ayromlooi's lunch break to be filmed three hours later. Page Kennedy is talked about as being allergic to tobacco so a herbal substance had to be used in all his weed smoking scenes. Warwick Davis chimes in he had to learn how to smoke a bong and then gives instructions on how to best smoke it. He tells that his actual height is three feet six inches, just like the size that the Leprechaun announces in the film. Ayromlooi states that "My film is very politically incorrect. I think you want to offend and excite as many as possible."
The second commentary is with Ayromlooi and the director of photography, David Daniel. Daniel says they were shooting twelve scenes a day which translates to twelve pages a day. Laz Alonso is said to have had to learn to drive a motorcycle for the movie and liked doing it so much he wanted to buy the cycle after the film was over, but by then it was too damaged. Daniel found out he could not have a shot of the Beverly Hills street sign in the movie because it had been copyrighted by the city and would cost money they couldn't throw away. He says that because of the low budget if a shot didn't turn out right it wasn't in the movie. Ayromlooi mentions that if this movie is really successful then he will never be able to do another Leprechaun film. I think he is still eligible.
The other DVD features are a trailer from the movie and some story boards which I though were very dry. The film is widescreen and is very colorful and detailed. The sound is very nice too.
Considering that only three weeks were allowed for the shooting of "Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood," this movie is not half bad. Some of the special effects may not match what a major film could come up with but I found them acceptable. The only movie of this series I had seen prior to this one was the first which I thought was really awful. The sixth edition shows a vast improvement. Warwick Davis' face is more fluid and lifelike. I can't remember him being so witty either as he is in this movie. I guess the series couldn't help but get better as it went along. If you are looking for a light DVD to watch some night that has chuckles and gore in it, this is it.
----Randy