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Leprechaun 2 (1994)

On his 1000th birthday, a mean Leprechaun gets to choose a bride by making her sneeze three times, then she’s his…only the bride he chooses is the daughter of his slave (who fouls up the wedding) so Leprechaun must wait until his 2000th birthday to claim the woman of his nightmares. The descendant of the woman he wanted to marry already has a boyfriend: a brave young boy named Cody, who lives with his swindler uncle Morty and together they run a tour company called Darkside Tours. Leprechaun soon wakes up, kills a bunch of people and kidnaps his bride to be. It’s soon up to Cody to save her, and only wrought iron can destroy a Leprechaun. Morty has an idea, but it soon goes horribly wrong when he gets too greedy. Cody ventures into Leprechaun’s home to save Bridget, but little does he know that a leprechaun’s home has many surprises.

It’s truly amazing how much life that this “Leprechaun” series has had. It’s endured for over 20 years; there’s even a remake in the works. Then again, I suppose there’s something to be said for this kind of dumb fun. And make no mistake, it *is* dumb. But it’s also genuinely funny at times, and is not without a clever moment or two. The makers of these movies know that they’re not making Shakespeare, and create agreeable horror comedies that may have some viewers groaning, shaking their heads, and struggling to get through them, and others having a fine old time. Making a difference is star Warwick Davis (it is nice to have seen him so gainfully employed), whose enthusiasm is hard to resist. He’s obviously enjoying himself.

In his second performance as the gleefully sadistic Leprechaun, he attempts to snag himself a hot young wife. But his slave interferes (the girl that the Leprechaun selects is his daughter), and 1,000 years later the Leprechaun resurfaces to amorously pursue his slaves’ descendant, a girl named Bridget (sexy blonde Shevonne Durkin). Naturally, Bridgets’ boyfriend Cody (Charlie Heath) isn’t going to sit idly by and watch a demented fairy take his lady away. So Cody teams up with his irrepressible drunken uncle Morty (veteran comedian Sandy Baron) to do battle.

Baron is a real scene stealer, and in addition to the attractiveness of co-star Durkin and the performance of Davis, does provide some justification for sitting down to watch this. The movie does get tiresome at times – and, for something running just under 85 minutes, it does drag a little – but it’s amusing often enough to make for decent entertainment. At the very least, it does find the time to feature cameo appearances by the legendary Clint Howard and Kimmy Robertson of “The Last American Virgin” and ‘Twin Peaks’ as a pair of tourists. Also showing up are Al White (one of the jive talking dudes from “Airplane!”), Tony Cox (“Bad Santa”), and Billy Beck (“The Blob” ’88). Production design, lighting, and visual effects are good, but there won’t be enough gore for some tastes, especially considering the fate of one character. The music by Jonathan Elias is actually damn good.

This is about as enjoyable as any movie titled “Leprechaun 2” could be.