DEADSTREAM (2022)

Streamer dork Shawn Ruddy runs a YouTube channel were he does self-destructive and suicidal shit like throwing a donut at some cops, freezing himself to death and…watching two Will Smith movies back-to-back. Just kidding.  Nobody is that suicidal!  Shawn’s viewership has dipped lately, so he pulls out the big guns and announces that he’s going to spend the night in a haunted house. That might sound totally lame, but DEADSTREAM won me over by being original, engaging and full of entertaining twists. Yeah, the overall premise is most likely based on THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, but DEADSTREAM easily surpassed that overrated turkey within the first 30 minutes.

Lightning-fast pace, outstanding acting by the small cast, impressive script that takes the ancient haunted house story idea and turns it into something fun and original, awesome camerawork and special effects, numerous small little tidbits that rewards the viewer for paying attention.

I could ramble on about DEADSTREAM for a long time, but nobody gives a fuck about what I think, so just do yourself a favor instead and check it out. It might even make a great double-feature with WITCHING AND BITCHING.

LEPRECHAUN 2 (1994)

Ahhhh, LEPRECHAUN 2. The number 2 in the title could lead the viewer to believe that LEPRECHAUN 2 is a sequel to the original film, but is it really? In the original, the leprechaun was 600 years old while in this film, he’s celebrating his 2,000th birthday. He was also dumped in a well at the end of Part 1, but in this movie, he is as free and happy as a demented jaybird. And horny. Sequel, reboot or stand-alone film…nobody cares. We just wanna see the leprechaun scamper around acting like an asshole. And scamper around he does. Much more than in the original film. Warwick really commits himself to role. It was awesome. In Part 1 he was stalking some nerds at a farmhouse while looking for his gold, but in this film, he’s balls out running around Los Angeles looking for his gold and a wife! And who would have guessed it, but the leprechaun actually has good taste! The woman he picks to be his desired bride turns out to be one of the better horror movie heroines of the 1990’s.

The story isn’t really important, but like I said earlier, Lep is now in Los Angeles looking for a wife. While in the act of kidnapping his bride-to-be he accidentally loses a coin, so now he has to put the nuptials on hold while he locates the lost gold. It’s all just an excuse to have him running round killing people. Unfortunately, the overall body count is pretty low.

Medium pace, goofy kill scenes (example: a guy thinks he’s putting his face between some tits when he’s really putting his face into a running lawnmower blade), no real blood or gore, one minor topless scene, cheap-looking sets that were kind of charming, random Los Angeles street scenes, JUDGEMENT NIGHT, CLIFFHANGER and SISTER ACT 2 playing in the theater, a brief Clint Howard sighting, GERONIMO advertisement on the side of a bus, okay acting, Disintegration and the Ramones on a jukebox in a bar, zero ninjas, no cheerleaders, low body count, Lep driving a go-cart with “I want me gold” spray painted on the side, extremely abrupt ending.

Closing statement: LEPRECHAUN 2 is a totally stand-alone movie and worth watching for fans of the series and/or fans of silly 1990’s horror movies.

Part 1 - Leprechaun (1993)
Part 3 - Leprechaun 3 (1995)
Part 4 - Leprechaun 4: In Space (1997)
Part 5 - Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)
Part 6 - Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (2003)
Reboot - Leprechaun: Origins (2014)
Direct sequel to original film - Leprechaun Returns (2018)