Leprechaun 4: In Space (1997)

Movie Info

The Leprechaun likes it kinky!

The Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) might have found his real pot of gold.  He’s captured Princess Zarina (Rebekah Carlton) and has potential to be a king.  When contracted space marines raid the Leprechaun’s base and recapture the princess, the Leprechaun is out for revenge.  Now, the Leprechaun is on their ship and he’s not stopping until his princess and his gold are back!

Directed by Brain Trenchard-Smith, Leprechaun 4:  In Space is sometimes just referred to as Leprechaun in Space.  The straight-to-video horror parody followed Leprechaun 3 in 1995 and was panned by critics.  It and other Leprechaun films are often available in multipacks.

Mittenspider!!!

I actually have fond memories of Leprechaun 4.  It is an awful movie, but it was a movie I watched with a group in college and we reveled in its awfulness.  It is badly acted, has poor visuals, and the jokes are duds…but I could watch it over and over again.

The story for Leprechaun 4 is a parody of other space adventure film (plus a few other films mixed in).  The movie while trying to feel edgy often feels more like The Ice Pirates (which was also a space dud).  The movie has less than tough “space marines” like Aliens but oddly enough feels like it combines aspects of Gremlins 2 and The Fly with the Mittenspider.  It isn’t biting humor and instead feels like lazy writing.

The acting is par for the course…you expect bad and you get bad.  Warwick Davis hops around and jokes, but it just feels like more of the same if you’ve sat through other Leprechaun movies…if you haven’t seen a Leprechaun movie, Davis maintains his status quo for the series in this volume.  I do have to say Guy Siner’s over acting as Mittenhand/Mittenspider is fun in its badness.

Yep…that pretty much sums up the whole movie

Visually, the movie looks cheap.  The sets look like they were borrowed from Star Trek (the original series…and not the remastered ones).  The make-up on Davis isn’t bad, but it hasn’t changed in four films.  The Mittenspider isn’t great, but it was a good opportunity for the series to have another monster.

Leprechaun 4:  In Space will have to hit you right for you to enjoy it.  It is a bad movie in a bad movie series.  I do recommend watching with friends and just enjoy tearing it apart.  Leprechaun 4:  In Space was followed by the cult classic Leprechaun in the Hood in 2000.

Related Links:

Leprechaun (1993)

Leprechaun 2 (1994)

Leprechaun 3 (1995)

Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)

Leprechaun:  Back 2 tha Hood (2003)