Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns (1996)

Posted on Aug 02, 2006 under Fantasy, Kidvid |

aka Leapin’ Leprechauns 2

Directed by Ted Nicolaou
Written by Patrick Clifton and Ted Nicolaou
Starring
- John Bluthal
- Madeleine Potter
- Gregory Edward Smith
- Godfrey James
- Tina Martin
Produced by Vlad and Oana Paunescu
Executive produced by Charles Band and Debra Dion

In keeping with the cost amortization policies of the Charles Band Media Empire (say – I like the sound of that!), production of this sequel came hard on the heels of its predecessor, Leapin’ Leprechauns — in fact, it even overlapped to some degree. Unlike most unnecessary sequels to unnecessary movies, Spellbreaker is actually the better film of the two, focusing more on story and conflict than on an inoffensive “message.”

After a short recap using footage from the previous movie, we find young Mikey Dennehy (Gregory Edward Smith) staying the summer in Ireland with his grandfather Michael (John Bluthal) and, of course, the mischievous but friendly leprechauns: King Kevin (Godfrey James) and his two loyal attendants, Patrick (James Ellis) and Flynn (Sylvester McCoy). Again, as before, the relationship between big and little people is a much less adversarial one than that seen in Darby O’Gill and the Little People, which is of course the main archetype of human-fairy relationships for ugly Americans such as myself. It may be simply because these leprechauns prove awful easy to catch, as Mikey the American whelp casually demonstrates, and the Wee Folk figure they’d best not enter a battle of wits with those few humans who believe in them.

“‘Forced perspective?’ That sounds so cruel — we prefer ‘indentured.’”

Mikey and Michael mostly entertain themselves by fishing and telling stories, and on the day on which we find them, Michael just happens to rehearse the lore of Finvarra, King of the Dead, and his mortal wife Nula, who can resurface from the Underworld on the nights and days of the full moon, seeking the treasure of the leprechauns. But because the leprechauns reside on magical Fairy Hill, Nula can’t come after them, unless like a vampire she is invited. And golly, no sooner has Michael finished his exposition, er, tale, then a red-tressed lass comes riding up to their fishing stream on her black horse and introduces herself as Morgan De La Fay (Madeleine Potter). At which point Michael gives her the horns to ward off the evil eye, screams, “Witch! Demon! Unclean!” and barricades himself and Mikey within the warded confines of Fairy Hill.

Ha, ha. I jest. No, Michael instead demonstrates that his brain got lost with his luggage somewhere on the flight back from America, and promptly invites Morgan up to the Hill to see the leprechaun hole. King Kevin, meanwhile, has seen Morgan from his hiding place, and fallen head-over-pointy-boots in love with her. As with most cases of outscale infatuation, there’s no hint as to how any relationship would be consummated, should he succeed in wooing her. (See also: Kong, King.)

Beakers? Of colored liquids? But that must mean there’s SCI– um, MAGIC going on here!

After Morgan’s friendly visit to Fairy Hill — to which she never returns, despite the ominous foreshadowing of having been invited the first time — she goes out into the woods for a picnic alone, where King Kevin creeps up on her (you can’t really call it “stalking” if the stalker is eight inches tall, I don’t care what the Puppet Master movies say) and tries to finagle a muffin from her lunchbag, ending up caught therein. I did mention the ease with which even non-twitterpated leprechauns are captured in this movie, right? He ends up back at the old castle which Morgan calls home; she’s completely delighted by her magical admirer, and so uses her customary three wishes for a bowl of strawberries, some champagne to share, and a safe trip home for King Kevin at the end of the night.

But wait! For once Kevin is gone, Morgan reveals her true identity as Nula, Queen of the Dead, and her true face as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer extra! And thanks to a deliberately-included piece of footage from the last movie used in the preamble to this one, we recognize the problem: Kevin has eaten her enchanted food — and now he will be her slave!

I hereby declare myself the founder and president of the Ion Haiduc Fan Club. And sole member.

But not content with enslaving only the pintsized locals, she goes to work on Mikey, who agreed to come around this morning to help her move some boxes from the basement. She gives him a plate of enchanted cookies, and it’s only because he smells something funny in them (she used too much eye of newt — seriously) that he uses a previously-established sleight-of-hand trick, avoids eating them, and becomes privy to Morgan’s plans when she assumes him to be enslaved.

“But wait!” you protest. “What about the fairies from the previous movie? We’ve seen the leprechauns, we’ve seen the humans; where are the fairies?” Glad you asked. The Fairy Queen Maeve (Tina Martin) shows up when the leprechauns are all in a panic about King Kevin disappearing for the night, and presents herself as a possible successor to his throne. But when Kevin reappears in a dazed and ensorcelled condition, she helps Flynn and Patrick, and the leprechaun court wizard (Ion Haiduc! Woo!) divine his malady. So while Mikey runs to get his grandfather and convince him of the supernatural danger, Maeve carts Kevin back to the Fairy Realm to disenchant him… a process which appears to involve the consumption of “fairy food,” i.e., lettuce.

Butterfly collector — of DOOM!

As I said earlier (and now have to justify), Spellbreaker’s a better movie than Leapin’ Leprechauns. For one thing, there’s a real personified antagonist to overcome, as opposed to the more abstract conflict in Leapin’ Leprechauns. For another, the Romanian locations are used to good advantage. Between the multiple castle settings (some appearing very familiar from such films as Shadow of the Knight), the wooded hills and vales, the ornate Old-World interior of the Fairy Realm, and the spooky ruins of the entrance to the Underworld, lit at night by smoke and flames, the available shooting locations are a good fit for the story, rather than the product of desperation in some other Moonbeam productions.

As well, it seems that Nicolaou and his fellow creative stringpullers feel less strictured by their target audience. As mentioned, this movie has a for-real villain, and she comes across as more dangerous and less bumbling than those in other Moonbeam features. The shots of Nula, decked out in her diabolical finery and galloping in slow-motion through the woods, had my five-year-old daughter a-quiver with anxiety. The entrance to the Underworld is likewise not round-cornered for effortless preschool consumption. (No nightmares resulted from watching it as a family, but that same daughter will not believe that a movie this “scary” was actually meant for kids.)

“Am I in… Bucharest?”

By the same token, both Nicolaou and the cast seem determined to have fun with the production. Certainly, when King Kevin is disenchanted by eating what is essentially salad, and then leaps and capers around the room like a simpering ballerina while Maeve talks about how he’s getting in touch with his fairy side… Well, I can’t believe that that’s anything other than a winking double entendre meant for any parents who might be watching this with their kids. (I have it on good authority that after the events of the movie, Patrick and Flynn took King Kevin back to the Leprechaun Hole for an all-nighter of Doritos and Skinemax.)