LEPRECHAUN Director Says There’s a Director’s Cut of a Horror-Comedy: “I Wanted It to Be a Horror Film for Kids”

Since Leprechaun The horror film franchise launched in 1993 and has gained quite a passionate fan base, and seven sequels have been released over the years. The franchise has had fun blending elements of horror and humor, but according to the director of the original film, Marco Joneshis original approach was to lean more into the silly comedy of it all.

During a recent interview with CB, the director said that there is actually a Director’s Cut version that presents his more comedic original vision of the film. He explained that he originally wanted it to be a horror film for children:

“I originally wrote it as a horror comedy, and I said I didn’t want to make a slasher and stuff like that. There’s a director’s cut somewhere and I managed to find it… The kids loved it, because I wanted it to be a horror movie for kids, like Scooby-Doo, but live-action. The studio wanted a harder R, and when they saw how kids reacted and it became this classic, then they decided [said], “Oh, we should have let you keep even more comedy.” I had a lot of battles with the studio, but it finally came out, I think, because of [star] Warwick [Davis]Warwick got the humor.”

It’s kind of strange to learn that Leprechaun was originally conceived as a children’s horror film! Jones went on to say that it was the inclusion of more violent scenes that distinguished the theatrical release from the director’s cut. Speaking about these differences he said:

“There was some violence. They added inserts later for a little more violence, but there were real scenes, cartoonish things. There were scenes of the Leprechaun getting hit by the truck and we don’t see them, and there’s a tire track and he pulls out and has tire tracks on the back. Lots of cute little scenes that they thought should be taken out. But it was my first picture. I didn’t have the final edits, so I had to listen to them. So there was some comedy taken away.”

I hope you find the Director’s Cut and give it a try to release it! I’m curious and would like to watch it!

The original film follows the story of an evil and mischievous leprechaun played by Warwick DavidAND. When Dan O’Grady returns from Ireland to North Dakota with a pot of gold, he doesn’t realize that he’s also brought back the evil leprechaun, determined to reclaim his treasure. When a new family moves into the farm years later, the leprechaun is accidentally released and embarks on a terrifying quest to recover every last piece of his gold. Along the way, the creature uses magical powers and sinister tricks to terrorize and hunt anyone who stands between him and his gold.

The whole Leprechaun the film series is currently streaming on Hulu if you want to revisit them.