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‘The Lego Batman Movie’ is (Surprisingly) a Horror Fan’s Wet Dream

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It’s like The Cabin in the Woods… for kids!

We horror fans are often begging to see our favorite villains mashed together within the same universe, which is probably why so many of us hold movies like The Monster Squad and Freddy vs. Jason so near and dear – it’s also why little Easter eggs like Freddy’s glove in Evil Dead 2 and the Xenomorph skull in Predator 2 made us all so giddy back in the day.

The idea of our favorite villains coming together to wreak havoc is undoubtedly a fun one, and no film to date has proven that more than The Cabin in the Woods. Released in 2012, the self-aware horror flick united (unofficial versions of) cinema’s most iconic monsters under the same umbrella, unleashing a full-on monster mash of insanity in the final act.

Oddly enough, The Lego Batman Movie does much the same thing.

No really. I’m not even kidding.

I totally missed The Lego Batman Movie when it was released in theaters back in February, but I had the chance to check it out last night now that’s it on home video; much to my surprise, the animated DC Film is absolutely loaded with iconic movie monsters. In fact, the entire plot of the film centers around them!

Around the 50-minute mark, Batman banishes the Joker to the Phantom Zone, a space prison that houses the most evil villains in the world. Joker had previously been using an army of DC villains in his attempt to take over Gotham, but when Batman handily defeats them (yet again), he enlists the help of the Phantom Zone’s denizens.

This is when The Lego Batman Movie becomes a monster mash of pretty epic proportions. The Phantom Zone spills out into Gotham, unleashing Gremlins, Dracula, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, King Kong, the Kraken from Clash of the Titans (or Godzilla, if you prefer), and even Sauron from The Lord of the Rings!

Much like The Cabin in the Woods, most of the monsters aren’t directly referred to by their movie names – except for the Gremlins, who fall under the Warner Bros. umbrella – allowing them to cleverly be used within the movie. Other Phantom Zone henchmen include a T-rex and velociraptors which one can assume are from Jurassic Park, as well as a shark that might as well be the shark from Jaws. Generic dinosaurs and sharks are part of existing Lego playsets, mind you, but the intent seems clear: these are movie monsters, banished to the Phantom Zone by movie heroes.

I fully expected The Lego Batman Movie to be a DC fan’s wet dream, and it absolutely is (Egghead, Vincent Price’s “Batman” character, even pops up!), but I had no idea going into the film that it’s also a horror fan’s wet dream. As much fun as I was having watching so many iconic monsters do their thing as a team, I was also smiling ear to ear at the thought of the kids of today being introduced to those villains for the very first time.

Maybe a few new Gremlins fans, for example, will be created thanks to Lego Batman.

Check out screen-grabs of all the Lego Batman monsters below and don’t miss this one!

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

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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