Editorials
Leprechaun vs. Candyman?! Seven Planned ‘Leprechaun’ Movies That Never Happened
The Leprechaun franchise is a fascinating oddity of a series. While Friday the 13th, Child’s Play, Halloween and the rest have all had their weird twists and turns, none of them have taken so many weird turns with such regularity as this one. It’s a bizarre series because, really, it isn’t a series in any way, shape or form. If anything, it’s an anthology.
Before now, with the recent release of Leprechaun Returns, there had previously been no direct sequels. Each one had only the unifying factor of Warwick Davis as the titular villain—with the exception of Leprechaun: Origins, of course—but none of them have any continuity from one to the next. Leprechaun Back 2 Tha Hood isn’t even a sequel to Leprechaun In the Hood. Yet, because of this, it’s one of the most creatively freeing independent horror series ever. All it takes to make a Leprechaun flick is to think of a setting or scenario that would be funnier if the Leprechaun were added to it, and (budget permitting) go from there.
Leprechaun: Origins stretched the loose confines of the franchise even further by removing the character played by Warwick Davis, the one thing present throughout each entry, and dropping the comedic approach in favor of a gritty, intentionally humorless and wholeheartedly serious take on the concept of the Leprechaun. Because of that, in addition to being the first direct sequel in the franchise ever, Leprechaun Returns is also the first “true” Leprechaun movie since 2003.
But, as luck would have it, for each tongue-in-cheek, cartoonish and pun-fueled Leprechaun movie we have, there’s another we don’t. There have been several attempts to take the franchise in new directions over the years that are still unseen to this day. These projects range from the expected “Leprechaun in X Scenario” movies to weird and inventive ideas that were only ever half formed and even crossover films with other iconic, but affordable horror characters.
It’s hard to know exactly what any of these movies would look like, but that’s precisely what makes them interesting. Each of these seven ideas are completely different from one another. Leprechaun is a series that’s at its best when it leans into its inherent goofiness and it’s easy to imagine many of these unmade projects would have adhered to that golden rule.
Leprechaun in the White House
When Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Leprechaun 3 was released, it was the most successful straight-to-video horror film of 1995 and it remains a fan-favorite even now. Because of that, he went right on to direct Leprechaun 4: In Space as well. Despite that one-two punch, Trenchard-Smith never directed another Leprechaun entry, though it was not for lack of trying. He did have a pitch for Leprechaun 5, as it turned out, and that idea would have seen the Leprechaun finding his way into the White House. As the director has noted, his version would have seen the little imp infiltrating an oafish but well-meaning first family. This was, after all, the Clinton era and Trenchard-Smith was a fan of the president at the time.
While the timing was far from as perfect a chance for satire as it would have been during the Bush years or, say, now, Leprechaun in the White House had a lot of potential just based on the concept alone. Unfortunately, Trimark thought it was “too out there,” which is pretty flabbergasting considering that this was coming right on the heels of the space movie. This isn’t the only horror franchise that tried to invade the White House, either, as Stuart Gordon also attempted to bring in Herbert West to reanimate the president in House of Re-Animator, which also unfortunately never happened.
Candyman vs. Leprechaun
Candyman is one of the best horror films of the 1990s. It might even be the best. Leprechaun, for all of its charms, is not. Other than supernatural central characters with vaguely defined powers, these two franchises have nothing to do with one another. They’re completely different on a tonal and stylistic level. It seems absurd and impossible that this crossover would actually have ever been considered. But it was, at least briefly. Tony Todd has famously said that, in the slow period after Candyman 3 that saw us bereft of any Candyman film until the upcoming reboot, the studio pitched him on the idea of a crossover with the Leprechaun franchise as this was on the heels of Freddy vs. Jason and they happened to own both characters. But he immediately turned down the idea.
Obviously, there are a few things that have to be considered in this head-scratching matchup. First and foremost, what would the Candyman want with the Leprechaun’s gold? Would whoever stole the gold be somehow related to Candyman, as that was who the Candyman targeted in both of his sequels? What about the height difference? Tony Todd isn’t just a man of average height, he’s a tall, tall man. Considering the budget this would likely have been produced for, it’s hard to imagine that it would have made fans of either franchise happy.
Leprechaun in the Old West
This idea was frankly genius and I’m always going to be a little bit bummed that it never came to fruition. After In the Hood and Back 2 Tha Hood, a few years passed before there was any serious talk of another Leprechaun movie. When the idea finally came, it came from none other than Darren Lynn Bousman, who was just coming off the massive success of Saw II, III and IV at the time. The idea was to do a period piece, taking the Leprechaun back to the Old West in the days of the California Gold Rush.
It’s so simple and yet it’s so obvious. It’s still amazing that nobody else ever jumped on this, even after Bousman. Maybe if Returns reignites the franchise (and I hope it will) we’ll see another crack at this. The idea of the Leprechaun taking on old-timey gold miners is too good to go to waste. In terms of a creator coming off a huge success to tackle an oddball franchise, this feels very much like the “S. Craig Zahler is writing a Puppet Master movie” of its day… only that one actually wound up happening.
Warwick Davis’s Leprechaun Pitch
For many, it was bittersweet going into the new Leprechaun without Warwick Davis, as he has defined the role for so many years. There was a time when he was completely invested in the character, even after landing huge gigs like the Harry Potter films. After Back 2 Tha Hood, he had his own ideas for where the franchise should head, at one point noting that he wanted to finally be introduced to the Leprechaun’s entire family, including a wife, children, parents, etc. If it sounds like Eddie Murphy’s schtick in The Nutty Professor, well, that appears to be entirely the point.
It would have admittedly been hilarious to be introduced to the extended Leprechaun clan à la The Klumps, especially with Davis portraying each character himself. This would also have shed some new light on Leprechaun 2, which saw the Lep attempt to claim an unwilling bride, if he’d been neglecting to mention the fact that he was already married the whole time.
Leprechaun vs. Wishmaster
It’s much harder to say if this was ever actually in as remotely serious consideration as Candyman vs. Leprechaun. This idea first spread after an extremely well cut trailer started circulating the web, a fan trailer using clips from both franchises, which is commonplace and not usually an indicator that anything official might actually be happening. But there were a lot of rumors at the time that someone had cut the trailer to pitch as a sizzle reel to Lionsgate. The trailer even got spotlighted on Fangoria’s website and Ain’t It Cool News at the time.
The thing that gives the slightest bit of credibility to the idea is the fact that both franchises were under the same umbrella and that they had clearly wanted to try and cross over the Leprechaun with other properties given the attempt at Candyman. While that idea didn’t make any sense, Leprechaun vs. Wishmaster could honestly have worked. Both series had similar tones and styles, and cost about the same to make. A crossover between the two could have actually had potential to be, at the very least, an entertaining watch.
Leprechaun: Origins 2
Like most horror reboots, Leprechaun: Origins was planned to be the launching point for a whole new franchise. And, like most horror reboots, it wasn’t. Even now, most rebooted horror series have at best spawned one follow-up before simply being rebooted again. Both Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre did this. But when WWE films picked up the rights to Leprechaun, they wanted to take it seriously, both in terms of handling the property and in terms of their approach to the story. Most fans considered the latter idea to be a mistake. While there’s something interesting in the idea of the folkloric Leprechaun rather than the stereotypical one, this is a concept that needs a degree of humor in order to work.
The very intentional decision to strip what had always been a comedy-horror series of all its comedy in favor of doubling down on grit and intensity did not prove to be a hit. Even though newcomer Dylan “Hornswoggle” Postl was barely glimpsed and had no lines in the feature, he expressed serious interest in reprising the role for future sequels had they actually wound up happening. They never did.
Vamprechaun
Alright, this isn’t technically a Leprechaun movie but it might as well have been and definitely earns its spot on this list, considering that it’s a movie about a killer Leprechaun from the original feature’s writer/director Mark Jones, with the intention of Warwick Davis starring in the title role. It wouldn’t have had anything to do with previous Leprechaun movies, but again, they’d never had anything to do with each other in the first place. The central conceit is brutally simple and exactly what you get from the title: it’s about a Leprechaun that is also a vampire. The idea of Davis basically playing the same character he’d done six times before, but this time in a tuxedo and cape and drinking the blood of his victims between limericks, just sounds so entirely watchable. It’s a shame that this one never came to fruition.
To be fair, though, it came closer than anything else on this list. Jones was dead set on making Vamprechaun a reality and checked with the attorney he had hired for the project, who also helped him raise the funding for the film, to make sure there would be no legal troubles from the owners of the Leprechaun franchise. This all stopped dead when Jones then sued the man as, according to Jones, he turned out not to be a real attorney.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on December 11, 2018.
Horror was thriving so well in the 1980s that movies like Pen Densham’s The Kiss (1988) would understandably get lost in the shuffle, only to then gain their fans later on in life. Even still, this one Canadian-American curio has had a more challenging time than others, as far as contemporary reevaluations go, which is very likely due to the movie’s limited availability—at least as of this write-up.
However, the scarceness of The Kiss, while a bit annoying, makes it like catnip for ‘80s horror completists everywhere. Hopefully, a lot of them will walk away satisfied after watching this hidden gem.
Even though The Kiss was intended as the first of several horror collaborations between Astral Pictures and TriStar, as well as the first feature produced by Densham, Richard B. Lewis and John Watson’s Trilogy Entertainment Group, it ended up being the only one produced from that former union. Once the movie was released, TriStar’s distribution jitters—they opted for a regional rollout—did the $6-million flick no favors. TriStar’s cold feet toward horror releases have been well noted, but The Kiss still did a tad better than Night of the Creeps (1986), another genre outing that flopped due to its regional opening.
Shot in Montreal, but set in Albany, New York, The Kiss—which was still called The Host just a few months before its October premiere—concerns an average middle-class family and their forthcoming situation. The uncanny problem in store for them was, in fact, set in motion some years earlier. As that hot and dusty flashback to the Belgian Congo shows, a familial curse was set upon the two Dunbar sisters well before Meredith Salenger’s teenage character was born.
Meredith Salenger, Nicholas Kilbertus and Mimi Kuzyk in The Kiss
The Kiss, which was based on a story by co-writer Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch) and penned by both Volk and Tom Ropelewski, has the outward appearance of The Stepfather (1987). This movie, though, is anything but a gender-flipped retread of that classic domestic disturber. For starters, The Kiss is far less grounded in reality—that much is clear from its unsettling opening scene. There, a trusting girl (Priscilla Mouzakiotis) is the victim of her own deceptive aunt (Céline Lomez); the movie’s titular act, and the story’s first shock, becomes the means of transferring an ancient evil from one host to another.
In the present day, Salenger’s role of Amy Halloran, a religious schoolgirl, is dealt a harsh blow in life once her mother, Hilary Halloran née Dunbar (Pamela Collyer), suddenly dies in a freak accident. But rather than a complete stranger sweeping the Halloran widower (Nicholas Kilbertus) off his feet some months later, Joanna Pacula’s character is that chosen temptress. Here, Pacula plays the grown-up version of the afflicted girl last seen in the movie’s opener. Since Amy’s mother is insistent about there being no reunion between estranged sisters, and she even contemplates buying a gun shortly before her tragic demise, it’s presumable that Aunt Felice poses a threat to her family.
The Kiss isn’t a movie ever too concerned about its own predictability. The audience is indeed often one step ahead of the story here, but also keep in mind how every one of those steps is loud. Take, for instance, the death of Amy’s mother; the Halloran matriarch goes out in garish, gruesome fashion, as a supernaturally commandeered truck sends Collyer’s character through a store window first, then leaves her one leg short. The directorial enthusiasm truly comes out in horrific moments such as these.
The Kiss is always sure to revel in its characters’ ills and misfortunes. So if the plot doesn’t impress, then its lurid parts should. Amy’s mother’s exit scene was proof of an eager, first-time horror director proving his worth. Then, bestie Heather (Sabrina Boudot) survives to tell the tale of a bizarre escalator mishap that, despite showing relatively less gore, spikes viewers’ empathy meter. The wilder bits of this movie, however, commence with that inevitable hookup between Felice and Amy’s bewitched father; their kitchen coitus is paralleled by Amy’s feverish classroom terror. The outcome there is a disquieting cross-cut of sex magic and a young woman’s menstrual onset plus hallucinations.
Sabrina Boudot in The Kiss
From foam appliances to bladders, that parade of special effects in The Kiss casts its own spell on the audience. Felice’s familiar, a visibly malevolent cat, was realized here with several models, some more articulate than others. Admittedly, the demon cat’s not as convincing as most of the effects here, but accepting that artifice, as opposed to fighting it, will make the whole experience way more enjoyable. As for the makeup used to manifest Felice’s inner villainy, it is more minimal and subtle than one might like; yet the work done to turn Pacula into an antithesis of herself is nonetheless compelling.
The otherworldly perils and dreadful goings-on wouldn’t work half as well as they do in The Kiss without the story’s contrast effect. Finding frights in picturesque, extremely ordinary settings was something that took off in the ‘80s, thanks to that sweeping shift to locales like the suburbs. And Amy’s home, a replica of a real Montreal suburban house, is the ideal battleground for any proper good-versus-evil story. It’s also prime real estate for this movie’s satanic panic-inspired horrors.
Because of their ostensibly similar plots, The Kiss has been compared to The Exorcist (1973). Except in Densham’s movie, the sinister, non-Christian entity targeting a teen girl lies within something less apparent and, perhaps, more devastating upon its exposure. To an outsider, Pacula’s Aunt Felice is too beautiful and unobjectionable to ever suspect of being a monster. More suspicious is how quickly she rips into the fabric of the Halloran home. Felice’s mere presence upsets the “texture of family life,” according to the director.
The demon cat in The Kiss
Taking out Amy’s mother and best friend, and distracting her father, would suggest The Kiss is playing by a different set of rules. It is initially leaving its adolescent target unsupported in a rather grim scenario. In contrast, though, this story offers up a surrogate parent who does her best to fill in the holes of Amy’s eroding home life. Mimi Kuzyk does good work as that family friend and doctor, Brenda, who guides the lost child without also steering her in any one direction; she is naturally skeptical of Amy’s accusations until it’s almost too late to do anything about them. So although The Kiss does an admirable job of undoing the main character’s support system, it never leaves her without a lifeline. This dark movie, in spite of everything that’s transpired, doesn’t deprive itself of light and hope.
The Kiss is a potent mélange of familiar ideas. If not for the director’s surprise flair for horror, though, the movie would have been less effective. What a shame that Pen Densham didn’t continue with the genre. As for Joanna Pacula, she is, too, owed credit as the wicked vixen opposite Meredith Salenger’s pitiable Amy; she never fails to be unsettling in her role. Pacula makes Aunt Felice a sexy yet intimidating character.
For horror that steadily doles out madness and menace, while also delivering a flashy and ghastly conclusion, The Kiss is certain to please. Yes, it’s cheesy all the way, but most favorably, everyone involved plays everything straight. That kind of commitment goes a long way with this movie.
The Kiss
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