How My $1.6M Leprechaun 4 Movie was made.

INT TRIMARK CONFERENCE ROOM DAY

Executives have convened to hear the pitch for number 4 in their series of LEPRECHAUN movies. A spoof press ad at their Christmas party had put the Leprechaun on Apollo 13:
“Trimark, we have a problem…“ A joke quickly became a sequel concept.

But the Director of number three, Leprechaun in Vegas, the highest selling direct-to-video of 1995, had a different concept.

His chief supporter within the company had summoned him in, along with his producer, to pitch it in front of their boss Mark Amin. There are other executives around the table who favor the original concept. This is not a slam dunk. Mark Amin enters, dressed dapper casual, and exuding a quiet authority. The Director notes the general change in body language around the table as Mr. Amin sits down.

 

SUPPORTIVE EXECUTIVE
Over to you.

The pitch begins.

DIRECTOR
APOLLO 13 is a very small environment
for the Leprechaun to wreak his havoc.
Why not use ALIENS as the matrix?
Space marines hunting down a creature,
which happens to be the Leprechaun, still
going strong after thousands of years.

 

MARK AMIN
Tell me the best scene.

The Supportive Executive and the Director had not discussed the latter’s vision for the movie beyond an overall framework that could be achieved for the budget. The pitch was now veering into unknown territory. But the Supportive Executive felt confident. This Director never seemed to be at a loss for words on the subject of film. In fact it was sometimes hard to get him to shut up. He would think of something.

DIRECTOR
There are so many great scenes to chose from…
but how about this? If you are going to do an
ALIENS homage, well, you’ve got to have a scene
where the creature bursts out of a
character’s body, right?

 

MARK AMIN
That scene’s been copied many times.

 

DIRECTOR
But not like this. You see..

A rival Executive sees an opportunity to display his insight.

EXECUTIVE 1
( interrupting )
The Leprechaun is 3 foot tall. How does he get
into the man’s body without him realizing it?

Another Executive grabs the coat tails.

EXECUTIVE 2
Are you going to do the whole face hugger
thing? We’re looking for originality here.

Oh, you guys are a tag team. You want originality? OK.

DIRECTOR
OK. The Space marines ambush the creature
on a desolate planet, blowing him to pieces.
Then, in a gesture of marine pride, the most
macho marine decides he will piss on one
of the body parts. So we do this shot from
behind his spread legs…

The voltage in the room goes up a notch. The golden shower of Farelly Brothers bodily function comedies had not yet rained down on Hollywood. But the director charges on, oblivious.

DIRECTOR
The actor squirts an unseen tube of amber
fluid down onto, say, a dismembered leg…

In the morality of Cinema, severed limbs are not offensive. Urine streams are. The Execs steal glances at the Boss, who remains attentive, but impassive.

DIRECTOR
But what the marine does not see,
and we do, courtesy of our CGI guys,
is a tiny glowing green ball travel
upstream, so to speak.

Oh, Boy. The Supportive Executive’ jaw tightens. His rivals lean back in their chairs, suppressing smirks.

DIRECTOR
So, the pay-off comes back on the ship
when this guy and a sexy lady marine
find a quiet corner to get it on. She’s got
her hand in his pants, and suddenly he’s
saying not so rough, you want to take
it home with you? And she can’t understand,
because she has a diploma in hand jobs…

The Rival Execs have that ‘glad You brought him in, and not Us, pal!’ looks on their faces. The Director is in the zone; the scene is playing before his eyes.

DIRECTOR
Suddenly he recoils backwards, his
pants start to bulge and pulsate
- via tubes and bladders, of course -
Then he sinks to the floor, so special effects
can get access from below. He screams as
the Leprechaun erupts out of his pants on an
invisible wire, flies through the air
and lands in front of them both. “ Next time,
m’ lad, you should use a prophylactic!”

The last line comes in thick Irish brogue. Stunned silence.

The Rival Execs are ready with scornful rebuttals, lest they too will be held collectively responsibility for letting this lunatic into the building. They look to the boss. His expression is studious.

MARK AMIN
So the Leprechaun comes out…of the
man’s penis?

DIRECTOR
Yes!

Pause.

MARK AMIN
Ah, huh…

Another pause.

I like it!

A massive reversal of body language ripples through the Executive ranks. Followed by an explosion of Rapture at the Brilliant Scene! A Great Idea! They always liked it. Even before they heard it. The Supportive Executive has trounced the opposition.

And that was how LEPRECHAUN (4) IN SPACE was green lit. Green being the operative word. I have always felt a debt of gratitude to Mark Amin for following his gut instincts and allowing me to make, unfettered, my wackiest genre cocktail. Multiple ingredients include FULL METAL JACKET, DR.CYCLOPS, RICHARD THE THIRD, HENRY THE SIXTH PART 2, THE FLY, LAND OF THE GIANTS, TERMINATOR, THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN, etc. See how many you can find.

How often does a CEO in the low budget arena have the courage to allow a passionate film maker with a totally out-there vision of a formulaic subject to follow it through to the end So, thanks Mark, and my endlessly supportive producers at the time, Jeff Geoffray and Walter Josten of Blue Rider Pictures.

It helped to have a clever, funny script from Dennis Pratt. We wrestled with how to deliver the obligatory topless scene, while at the same time mocking this habitual distributor’s requirement, by contriving the most absurd reason ever for a girl to bare her breasts. I think Dennis’s solution is hysterical. He also gave British TV star Guy Siner (‘Allo, ‘Allo!) great material with which to play a DR. STRANGELOVE mad scientist who become a giant spider person, craving flies. And Guy consumed the role and the flies with gusto.

The elaborate prosthetic make up effects from Gabe Bartalos were awesome. Particularly for a $1.6M movie.

But it is Warwick Davis who brings impeccable timing, and an impish sense of fun to each dark deed. His charisma carried the series for two more sequels.

You have to be in the right frame of mind for a LEPRECHAUN movie; they are not for everybody. They play best to a pre-pubescent thru high school male mentality. The exploding penis scene was, as I predicted at that meeting, a regular talking point at the middle school level after the film came out.

Foreign markets never quite got the LEP franchise sense of humor. In England, they did not release LEPRECHAUN 2 - originally developed as “Bride of Leprechaun” - as a sequel. They tried to pass it off as a black comedy entitled ONE WEDDING AND LOTS OF FUNERALS. There’s even a SPACE PLATOON poster I came across, selling No. 4 as straight Sci-Fi Action Adventure!

But gradually a cult audience for LEP has developed internationally as well in the US. (Ireland is probably an exception…begorah!)

A movie that revels in bad Sci-Fi, exults in its own absurdity, has an enduring shelf life, by virtue of being such an oddity. People tell me it’s an hilarious guilty pleasure for a bunch of sci-fi literate guys around the twelve pack or the bong. Coin from internet download will be trickling into Lionsgate coffers for a long time to come.

Die Hard fans of the Leprechaun genre are divided over whether they prefer LEP IN VEGAS or SPACE. Of the two, SPACE is certainly broader in comedy style, more of a pastiche. I’m too close to tell. They both have their hits and misses. You can find a trailer for SPACE here.

http://www.benetonfilms.com/temp/lep4preview.wmv
.

Tales from the world of LEPRECHAUN will follow in a future Blog.