Every genre has cliches, but how well does the 3rd film in the Leprechaun series follow the Slasher film rules?
Leprechaun 3 (1995) is the story of yet another leprechaun on a killing rampage to get one of his gold coins back
The following analysis may contain spoilers for
LEPRECHAUN 3 (1995)
Rule #1
A Warning Will Come From...
"Whatever you do, don't touch the medallion." ~ Lucky.
"No, I won't." ~ Gupta.
- Lucky, is a crazy old man, desperate to get money for fuel to leave town, He warns Gupta not to touch the amulet.
- Gupta also has a computer program that gives a lot of important warnings and information.
Rule #2
There Will Be T&A
"Hey, you want my heat seeking moisture missile, don't you?" ~ Mitch.
- Nudity - Tammy Larsen undoes her top with under control of a wish, most of the rest of the time she's wearing a very cleavagey magician's assistant costume. A topless lady comes out of a television.
- Sex - Mitch almost has it.
Rule #3
Death Will Be A Punishment For...
"They should have been willing/to give me me shilling./But I've done well/by sending them to hell!" ~ The Leprechaun.
In theory, the leprechaun is chasing and killing anyone who has had his coin. In reality, he just kills anyone who annoys him.
- 3a. Sex - Mitch tries to have sex with Tammy and then begins to have sex with the lady who comes out of the television and turns out to be a robot. Electrocuted during robot sex.
- 3b. Nudity - Tammy almost gets nude but survives (she was under the control of a rapey wish at the time.)
- 3c. Drinking - No really.
- 3d. Drugs - Not really.
- 3e. Hitchhiking - Tammy sort of does with Scott. Survives.
- 3f. Other criminal behaviour - Art and Tony are loan sharks or gangster of some kind.
- 3g. Being annoying/being cowardly/being a sleazy guy - Gupta is greedy, Mitch is sleazy,
- 3h. Being a bystander - The morgue attendant. Possibly the doctor and nurses.
Rule #4
Never Go...
"Tammy Larson, please report to the morgue." ~ The Leprechaun.
- 4a. Basements - The morgue, maybe. Nothing says it's in the basement, but it usually is in this type of film.
- 4b. Upstairs - Lots of people go to hotel rooms above the casino. Some die.
- 4c. Showers - Nobody showers in this film.
- 4d. Into old sheds or outbuildings - N/A.
- 4e. Running off to the “safety” of the forest - No forest.
- 4f. Anywhere alone - Mostly Tammy in the morgue.
- 4g. Anywhere Remote, Isolated or Confined - No.
- 4h. Abandoned buildings - No. Unless you count the pawn shop.
Rule #5
Order of Death...
"The signs point to a tragedy about to happen. Casino owner dies... in a bed of lies." ~ The Leprechaun.
- 5a: First person to appear on screen - Gupta is the first person to appear on screen and the first to die.
- 5b: Black guy dies first - Gupta is the only non-white character. As noted, the first killed.
- 5c. The Stoner - No.
- 5d: The Bimbo - Loretta, although for most of the film she's an aged out-of-shape bimbo-wannnabe.
- 5e: Nerdy/Funny Guy - Scott. Possibly Gupta.
- 5f: The Macho-Jerk - Fazio. Mitch. Arthur and Tony.
- 5g. The Strong Female Character - None (besides Tammy).
- 5h. The Protector - None.
- 5i. The Sensitive Guy - Scott.
- 5j. Children and animals – No children or animals.
- 5k. The Final Girl - Tammy.
1. Gupta [A]
2. Mitch [F]
3. Art [F]
4. Tony [F]
5. Loretta [D]
6. Morgue Attendant [E]
7. Fazio [F]
* Scott also probably kills some medical staff when he's turning into a leprechaun himself.
Rule #6
Especially When They Are Most Needed, The Following Things Cannot Be Relied On…
"Yeah, give me hotel security. Yeah, I'd like to report a leprechaun in your hotel. No, a LEPRECHAUN. Yeah, little green guy. HE TRIED TO KILL ME! Hello?' ~ Scott.
- 6a. Communication devices - No phone problems.
- 6b. Lighting problems - Maybe on the way to the morgue.
- 6c. Vehicular Transport - Tammy's car breaks down in the beginning, but no one tries to escape in a car. Well, escape Lucky and he seems to be fine once he has fuel money.
- 6d. Your Own Legs - Not really. Some of the crowd fleeing Fazio's murder have problems, but they aren't being chased.
- 6e. The Authorities - Hotel security didn't believe Scott. After that, they gave up contacting them.
- 6f. Weapons – A couple of people had guns that were easily knocked out of their hands.
- 6g. Escape routes - No.
Rule #7
The Final Girl
"I could have any broad that I wanted." ~ Mitch.
"Like that bubblehead little bimbo, Miss Tammy?" ~ Loretta.
"Yeah, I could have Tammy if I wanted her." ~ Mitch.
"Like that bubblehead little bimbo, Miss Tammy?" ~ Loretta.
"Yeah, I could have Tammy if I wanted her." ~ Mitch.
Tammy Larsen
- 7a. Final - Yes. (With Scott).
- 7b. Girl - Yes.
- 7c. Boyish - No, very female.
- 7d. Well Drawn - OK.
- 7e. Virginal & innocent - Dresses slutty for work. Behaves that way when under control of a spell, but otherwise not really.
- 7f. Will be reborn - A little.
Rule #8
The Killer has a connection to...
"I'm a leprechaun, me lass, and I'm gonna make you pay!" ~ The Leprechaun.
The Third Leprechaun
- 8a. The location - No. Well, the casino is called the "Lucky Shamrock."
- 8b. The Final Girl - No.
- 8c. The Protector - Scott does begin to turn into a Leprechaun.
- 8d. The other victims - No.
- 8e. Feminity - No.
- 8f. A specific look - Looks exactly like the leprechauns from the first 2 movies.
- 8g. A specific weapon - Mostly magic, but he did beat 2 people to death with his shillelagh.
- 9a. You always have to kill the bad guy twice - Not really, once did it.
- 9b. Even then the bad guy lives on - No, seemed OK.
- 9c. Evil is immortal - The Leprechauns in the previous films were exceptionally long-lived. This one wasn't given an age. Also he died at the end.
Rule #9
Evil Never Dies...
"Now listen to me! This may mean the difference between living and dying. Do you have health insurance?" ~ Doctor.
Rule #10
The Sequel Will Be Bigger/More Formulaic
"No. I'm not gonna forget it. And neither are you. If we let him get away with it, he'll do it again to somebody else. And I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna let that happen." ~ Scott.
- 10a. They will follow the rules more - Maybe a little more.
- 10b. They will be more formulaic - Follows the basic formula of the first two, adds the leprechaun bite causing someone to become a leprechaun.
- 10c. There will be more T&A - The first film had no nudity, the second a brief breast shot. This one had a longer scene with exposed breasts.
- 10d. There will be more and bigger deaths of the victims - Went for bigger exaggerated deaths.
- 10e. The killer’s death will be bigger - The previous two exploded, this one burnt to death in the air. Virtually the same. I'm not going to argue this one.
Results
"All right, let's just start with every test that starts with the letter A, tomorrow we'll do the B's, and then Thursday..." ~ Doctor.
"You play golf on Thursday." ~ Nurse.
"Well, this is an emergency." ~ Doctor.
- The following rules are followed: 1, 2, 5, 10.
- The following rules are partially followed: 3, 4, 6, 7, 8.
- The following rules were not followed: 9.
~ DUG.
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ReplyDeleteI remember very well when I was 17 years old, I first watched the first three films about the funny and evil Leprechaun. And only 13 years later, I decided to watch it again... And now, when I was watching the third film, I immediately noticed the incredibly beautiful actress Lee Armstrong. My God... at the age of 30, I felt like a teenager again, in love with her amazing face, beautiful figure and luxurious blond hair.... The standard of female beauty and perfection. But... this was her image 28 years ago.... It's just a dream that will never come to me. Even after a while, watching the third film again, my heart starts beating faster just seeing her on the screen. This is so strange. How strange that I even write this here. The features of her face, her eyes, her gentle and piercing look are still in my memory. Maybe one day I'll meet a girl just like her....
ReplyDelete"There are many capable women but you excel them all” (Proverbs 31:29).