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Dear Wes, Thanks for the Nightmares

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Yesterday came the incredibly sad and painful news that iconic horror director Wes Craven had passed away after losing a battle with brain cancer. Craven was only 76 years old but the legacy of his work has left a footprint in history that can never be denied or ignored. Horror may not be what it is today without the works of Wes behind it.

I want to take this platform to share a few thoughts and memories I have of Wes and his films. After all, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is the very first horror movie I remember seeing at the age of six or seven. Clear as a cloudless sky, I remember watching Rodney Eastman’s character Joey practically salivate over the woman in his waterbed. Moments later, Freddy bursts through the bed, pulling Joey in and then sealing it again, this time with Joey inside, causing him to drown. My mom immediately changed the channel and so I never knew what happened next.

That visual gave me nightmares for days and haunted me for years. Little did I know that this memory would give rise to my love of horror and become one of the most important moments of my horror life.

When I was 15 and able to drive, the video store was basically my second home. I would go there all the time and scour the horror section for whatever I could find. Luckily, my parents were pretty cool with it, so they put a note on the account that allowed me to rent R-rated films. I don’t know if that was legal or whatever, but it worked and I could rent any horror movie I wanted.

Like nearly every person on the planet, I knew of Freddy Krueger from pop culture. Yeah, I’d seen him in NOES 4 when I was a kid but I never really watched a Freddy film before. And so, on one video store trip, I rented Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. Yes, I went totally out of order but it was new and it caught my eye. Plus, I didn’t think I needed to see the others beforehand.

In a weird way, I’m very glad that I went down this route. Not only did it introduce me to Freddy Krueger and Heather Langenkamp as herself AND as Nancy, it introduced me to Wes himself. Seeing Wes onscreen made him all the more real, all the more tangible. Before, he was just “a director”, a guy behind the camera who brought me a story but let the characters bring it to life. Keep in mind, that was my 15-year old self and how I thought back then. I now recognize the error of my ways.

Seeing Wes changed all that. Suddenly, it was important for me to know who made a film, who put their heart and soul into it. Because of watching him, I would forever now look at who was behind a film, who crafted it, shaped it, moulded it, and presented it for me to appreciate and digest.

Because of this, I went on a Wes Craven binge, watching nearly everything he released. I asked the video store clerks to bring up his name in the computer and I simply went down the line of his films, renting them two to three at a time, devouring them as eagerly as Freddy tried to devour Kristen in The Dream Warriors.

This pathway led to me doing the same for John Carpenter, George A. Romero, and more. It was because of Wes that I loved film not just for the stories on the screen but for the people responsible for delivering them to me.

A few years ago, I had the incredible opportunity to take part in a very small Q&A with Wes at the University of Michigan at a class I attended. That interview still lives on this site, which makes me happy. It’s a piece that I’ve offered to the world that ensures he will live on in the great vast internet ocean.

Later that day, I got a call from a friend who told me that Scream 4 was filming mere minutes from my place. I hopped in the car and drove into the neighborhood, parked on the street, and walked a few blocks to the set. From my vantage point across the street, I could actually see Wes in the director’s tent, intently focused on the monitors in front of him, wearing headphones to ensure nothing could distract him. After the scene wrapped, he approached many of the cast and crew, taking the time to speak with them and answer their questions and concerns.

It was so wonderful to see him make the effort to do this. Sure, it’s in his job description but he did it with a smile and never raised his voice. He seemed ever calm and in control of himself, a stark difference from his films where chaos and terror could occur at any moment.

I could go on and on about the additional impacts Wes had on my life, such as the Nightmare on Elm Street NES game, the “1… 2… Freddy’s coming for you” ditty and how it gets stuck in my head all the time, the genital empathy I felt for Bill Pullman in The Serpent and the Rainbow, the joy of seeing the crazy The People Under the Stairs, laughing at the delightful meta-ness of the Scream franchise, the social commentary of The Last House on the Left… The list is nearly endless.

But it’s not even remotely close to how endlessly Wes Craven shaped and influenced horror. With each film he released, whether they were a winner or a dud, he brought something new to the genre. For that I thank you, Wes. Many of my nightmares are a direct result of you and your work. Here’s hoping I have many more.

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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