Leprechaun: Origins – Where The WWE Horror Movie Reboot Went So Wrong

In 2014, WWE Studios released a reboot of the Leprechaun franchise titled Leprechaun: Origins, but what was intended to be a dark new take on the series ended up being a disappointing mess. Directed by Zach Lipovsky, written by Harris Wilkinson, and starring Dylan Postl – better known by his wrestling name Hornswoggle – Leprechaun: Origins was billed as a more traditional horror version of the 1990s horror comedy franchise, but ultimately lost everything that made the series unique and received negative reviews from critics and audiences alike.

Currently carrying a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 3.2/10 on IMDB, it’s difficult to imagine what this reboot could have done so wrong to incur such a low score, especially with the original Leprechaun series being far from high art. Whereas Leprechaun: Origins predecessors at least had some good gore or some funny moments, this reboot offered little but cliches.

So, what is it that Leprechaun: Origins did to earn so much ire, and how could the movie have been a more successful reimagining of the cult franchise? Overall, paying more of an homage to the original movies and staying true to their tone would have gone a long way, but here’s a breakdown of some of the key mistakes and how they might have been remedied.

Leprechaun: Origins follows friends Sophie, Ben, Jeni, and David as they travel through Ireland as part of a research trip for history student Sophie. They stop to have a drink in a remote pub in the countryside and encounter an old man who tells them about a nearby monolith he characterizes as the area’s best-kept secret. Sophie, naturally, has to see it and the rest of the group agrees to go out of their way to check it out. Unfortunately, the man hasn’t been entirely honest with the group, and instead of taking them on a side trip to an interesting historical monument, he locks them inside a cabin as a sacrifice to the vicious creature that roams the area, the leprechaun. Apparently, the village is cursed and they have to make regular sacrifices in order to keep their luck. While this plot isn’t particularly original, it could have been done in a way that was at least fun or interesting, even though the twist is pretty obvious from the beginning.

The downfall of Leprechaun: Origins, however, is that the filmmakers decided to make the leprechaun more monstrous and generic, taking away the unique personality of the original Warwick Davis leprechaun. The silliness of the original series is a major part of its appeal, and getting rid of that leaves this reboot feeling like a ripoff rather than a reinvention of the franchise. The other aspect of Origins’ that sticks out as a mistake is that it simultaneously feels like it’s not trying at all while trying to do way too much. The movie is only 90 minutes, but it feels like it moves through the plots of three different films within that runtime; this ultimately leaves the viewer feeling tired and confused, with the movie dragging on through event after event without any meaningful moments, fun kills, or character development of any kind.

Unfortunately, while a trope-y horror movie can work, it requires a self-awareness the movie doesn’t have and coupled with a lack of a compelling story, characters, or effects that leaves it feeling uninteresting and forgettable. WWE Studios set out to create a fresh take on the Leprechaun series, injecting it with more serious horror and gore, but ultimately Leprechaun: Origins fell victim to cliches and poor writing without much to set itself apart.

About The Author