Leprechaun Celebrates its 29th Anniversary: Here’s Why it’s a Cult Classic

Critics panned the film, which was Jennifer Aniston’s big-screen debut, upon its release in 1993, but has since established a cult following. In fact, Leprechaun was such a cult hit that the movie gave rise to an entire franchise centred around the dangerous leprechaun referred to as Lubdan. Today, there are eight films in the series. The latest instalment, Leprechaun Returns, was released in 2018. 

So, what is it about the Leprechaun film series that has caused it to gain cult status and spawn a multi-decade long franchise? Why did people nearly 30 years later celebrate the original film’s anniversary? Perhaps it’s because of the movie’s soundtrack, which was composed by Kevin Kiner, best known for scoring Making a Murderer and CSI: Miami. Or, perhaps it has more to do with the film’s villain himself.

An Instant Classic

Every great cult horror classic has an even better villain. One who, even after multiple films, still has a way of creeping into your mind long after the closing credits. Typically, it’s the villains that pair their evil charisma with humorous behaviours (smiling, telling jokes, etc.) that get under our skin, such as Freddy Krueger and Ghostface from Wes Craven’s meta-horror slasher franchise Scream. Lubdan in Mark Jones’ Leprechaun franchise is like these characters, bringing tongue-in-cheek elements into an otherwise gory and terrifying movie.

It’s Seasonal

On a more obvious note, the Leprechaun film series has become a cult classic because it’s a holiday-themed franchise. Even decades after the original film’s release, the Syfy cable channel still plays all the movies in the series on St. Patrick’s Day. Entertainment focusing on this holiday is limited, which is why it’s not just the Leprechaun series that gets annual attention, but any movie or game that has Irish themes.

For example, Leap Year, released in 2010 and slated by film critics, has achieved cult status and is regularly watched around St. Patrick’s Day. Similarly, the Rainbow Riches slot game by Barcrest is still one of the most beloved casino games in countries like the United Kingdom, even though the game was originally released in the 2000s. The slot game features a mischievous leprechaun, gold coins, and rainbows, making it one of the few games with St. Patrick’s Day themes that have lasted decades in the mainstream market. 

A Star Was Born

Lastly, Leprechaun was Jennifer Aniston’s film debut. Following the film’s release, the actress found international fame starring as Rachel Green in the television sitcom Friends (1994-2004). However, many movie buffs like to go back to Leprechaun to see how Aniston’s film career has progressed.

Today, Aniston is one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors, and reports suggest that movies with her in the leading role tend to gross over $1 billion worldwide. But, like most actors, Aniston had to start somewhere, and that somewhere was a campy horror movie that turned into a cult classic. Interestingly, multiple actors have gone down this route. For instance, Drew Barrymore, who, albeit had been acting for years, was in Wes Craven’s original Scream (1996) movie, a young Johnny Depp starred in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Kevin Bacon played Jack Burrell in Friday the 13th (1980).

29 years later, the original Leprechaun film is still considered a cult classic, spawning a commercially successful franchise that last put out a film in 2018. Between the seasonality of the film and the evil but humorous antagonist, we see the film world continuing to celebrate this horror comedy for many more years.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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