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The Unsettling Swamplands of ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ [Best of 2018]

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*Keep up with our ongoing end of the year coverage here*

Terror descends with the night in the murky swamps of Lemoyne.

In Red Dead Redemption 2’s Louisiana stand-in, Rockstar’s open world game—equally beloved and reviled for its languid pace— slows to a molasses trickle. And at high noon, I take advantage of the lead-footed way of life.

I crouch on little islands of sedge grass —rolling block rifle on my knee— and pick off sluggish alligators, using the scope to plug bullets between their beady eyes, where dead eye’s heat scan glows scarlet red. When the cops pursue me from Saint Denis, I hide behind walls of peet, taking potshots as the boys in blue struggle through root systems and standing water. I smoke cigars, I drink Kentucky bourbon, I poach alligator eggs.

I don’t rule the swamp. The system is too large and too intricate for that. But, I do infect it; a pathogen borne along brackish water, pursued—if at all—by police and predators too unhurried to stop my spree. As I disappear through curtains of moss under willow boughs, I imagine the police tugging at their sweat-soaked woolen collars, deciding to cut their losses and head back to the precinct. The electric chair’s first demonstration is set to take place any day now; they wouldn’t want to miss the show.

As the light streaming through the ghostly foliage dims, I rely increasingly on sound. The thick splashing of sludgy water at the thigh of my patched work pants. Mosquitoes whining in zigzags past my right ear. Sticks crunching along the river bank. Something big sliding off the mud and into the water behind me.

And the rumble. As night falls, I remember what those alligators—alligators I’ve been murdering in blood as cold as theirs— are: the grandchildren of the kings and queens of prehistory. The rumble reminds me. It’s a low, bassy, growl, stirring up enough buzzing air that I imagine gastroliths rolling frantically around their lizard stomachs like pool balls after a well-executed break.

When the sun is high, these lowrider dinosaurs lay like logs; lazy as fallen trees. As the sun glints on their muddy scales, they seem like easy prey. Their demeanor doesn’t change at night, but when the sun goes down, the way I see them does. Now, they lay like bear traps, ready to snap if I get too close; to shut their jaws on my boot-clad calf.

To wade through the swamps at night is to be tense at all times. Arthur’s gait is always leisurely, and when our cowboy is waterlogged, he moves impossibly slowly, prime bait for any passing alligator. But, to ride through the swamps at night is to be terrified. As my horse wades through standing water up to his withers—dynamic testicles shrunken, I imagine, to Costanza-levels of puniness—I can see the jaws closing on his jet black haunches. I can imagine serrated teeth sinking in and tearing a chunk out of my well-groomed, well-fed, well-petted, frequently “Easy boy”-ed companion. I fear for Absolute Unit’s life much more than I fear for my own.

“I’ve been killing animals just for fun,” Arthur confesses to Mary-Beth, if you take the time to talk to her in camp after one of these swamp-spanning sprees. She encourages you to be a better person, but she can’t and won’t absolve you.

My horse hasn’t fallen in the swamps yet. But, I fear that Red Dead Redemption 2 will demand his blood. I’ve been killing animals just for fun. And, I fear, the swamps may have similar tastes.

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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