Leprechaun 5: In the Hood is a film that frightens me to review in 2020. I’m still going to do it. I’m still going to have fun. If you are easily offended, this may not be the film or the review for you. Thank you.
I need to say that Ice-T’s character’s name is actually Mack Daddy. There are other character names like Postmaster P and Stray Bullet. Just know what you’re getting yourself into. I’m surprised none of the Wayans brothers were involved. In Living Color is still a solid show, but has aged oh so terribly at times. Let’s start up Leprechaun In The Hood.
Start Film
Lep starts off with some playful rhymes. This already feels more like a Leprechaun movie than part 4 did. I am also sure I have seen many of Dan Martin’s projects. The captioning is fucking terrible on this. It’s off by a good 30 seconds on VUDU. Let’s see if I have a better copy. And I do!
Seeing Ice-T with the huge ass afro brings me glee. I remember renting this film and saying to my buddy, this is the Leprechaun film I have always wanted. Mack Daddy and his cohort, Slug, are in some building that they are breaking in through the walls. They find some fast food, some Colt .54 (that’s right), and a Leprechaun statue with the medallion. “You midget Midas motherfucker” says Mack Daddy. There’s the pot of gold too! Slug has a pick in his fro. “Now we’re moving on up to the East Side,” says Slug. Slug just removed the medallion and the eyes glow and Lep has come to life. He takes Slug’s hair pick. He got the pick in his throat. Mack Daddy pulls out a gun. Lep makes the gun too hot to hold. Mack Daddy pulls a knife from his fro. So Lep sends the knife flying. Mack Daddy pulls out a miniature baseball bat from his fro. This shit is really happening and it is amazing. Lep flings the bat. Down goes Mack Daddy. He’s still alive. Mack Daddy turns on a pressure valve that sends the medallion in the air and lands perfectly around Lep’s neck. Seriously, that is how this film starts.
We now hear Postmaster P, Butch, and Stray Bullet laying down a track. There’s a Tony Robbins reference. Stray Bullet is the pissy one in the group, Butch is the thicker man, and Postmaster P is the positive guy with the backward hat. They try to pawn a fake Jimi Hendrix guitar to Jackie Dee (Dan Martin). “Positive message? More like punk ass,” Hahaha. Then they try to sell it to Chow and he tells them to “Hip and hop their black ass home”. They see Mack Daddy and he looks quite wealthy. They tell Mack Daddy how good they are and he tells them to get in. Mack Daddy has the Leprechaun statue in his office. Mack Daddy thinks that they have talent but they gotta stop being so damn positive. Postmaster P isn’t good with this, so they get the boot.
Stray wants to break into Mack’s place and steal the medallion and pawn it. P isn’t down with this plan and tells them that he’ll see them on Judge Judy. Butch and Stray are hyped and P actually shows up. Man, drink every time the N-word is used. Go ahead. You’re welcome. Stray finds a shitload of jewelry, Butch is about to explode the glass case that Lep is in, and then Mack returns early. P is spooked and shoots Mack. Ohhh shit. They take everything they can, including the gold coins and this flute that Ice T has had since the beginning. Lep makes a Tiger Woods reference and they respond saying that he is like Chucky on crack. They shoot up Lep with like 15 bullets. They drive away. Mack ain’t dead. He witnesses Lep reform himself.
Mack calls someone to bring a lot of guns and guys. Shit is going down. To calm himself, Mack is smoking a joint and Lep likes this blend. “A friend with weed is a friend indeed.” Whoever is writing this shit should have won a fucking Oscar, or at least nominated for one. Lep rips off one of Mack’s fingers. He tells Mack to find his fucking gold. Lep asks what the music is and is informed that it is rap. The bartender tries to attack, but he gets got.
The boys are back with Jackie Dee getting gear and some cash for the shit they stole. P plays the flute and everybody just stops what they’re doing and starts staring at him. Now they’re at Chow’s and Chow is all sorts of ridiculous shit. Chow offers to dance for the rap video and he starts dancing. He did the “funky peasant” and he is hilarious. P blows the flute and everything stops and is staring again. Aww man, the dude who played Chow, Jack Ong, died in 2014. That makes me a sad panda.
Mack is still pissed, but he found the medallion. So now he has something to work with. Lep politely asks for his gold schillings back. Jackie mocks Lep and is rude. Then Jackie comes across some girl that he used to be with, but it’s obviously Lep. I’m guessing that Jackie Dee is dead. Mack finds the 3 dudes and he asks where the fucking flute is. They deny having it and they jump off the roof. They decide to stay at a new place every night to avoid Mack until the Vegas contest.
They end up at Fontaine’s place. Fontaine is a transvestite. Miss Fontaine wants some money for her operation. Awww, Lep is visiting Chow now. He chokes Chow. The boys get yelled at for making too much damn noise. P plays the flute and now the angry neighbor is down with them. Fontaine really likes Butch. This is their idea of laying low, performing in front of 20-30 people. Fontaine takes off his top. Now Lep meets Fontaine. Lep says that he didn’t come to play with fruit, he came for his magic flute. Fontaine brings Lep into his bedroom. They hear Fontaine making noise and Fontaine is killed and they see Lep is there.
Butch is pouring douche onto a heating pad (I think), then adding some petroleum jelly I think, and then plans on plugging it to make it burn. Butch is one smart mother fucker. “Yo shorty, you ain’t even as big as my dick,” says Stray. Lep takes the bait and enters the room. This works and they set him on fire.
The plan is to spend the night at church with Rev. Hanson. P says that he needs to check on his blind grandma. Grandma is hilarious. She makes soup with hot sauce and asks Butch why he’s a virgin still. She also made fun of Stray’s momma. P shows Stray how the flute works. They sleep at the church. The reverend’s real name is Ivory Ocean. What a tremendous name! Unfortunately, he’s dead in real life too. He was also the mayor in The Mask. The Rev makes a deal to allow the boys to stay for $50 and they need to provide the entertainment for the sermon. The boys try singing and it is bad, people getting up to leave. P blows the flute and everybody turns back to them. Why doesn’t it affect Stray and Butch? And Coolio is there at church as himself. I forgot about that. They start performing this rap about Jesus and the people start dancing ridiculously, and Coolio approves. Here is a link to the performance.
Mack Daddy has found them at the church. They hide upstairs and Lep is with them. Mack Daddy has his gun out and Lep is right behind them. Mack Daddy’s bodyguard has been in some great shit like The Thing, They Live, and Falling Down. His name is Eric Mansker. And he just got got by Lep. That’s unfortunate. A big hole through that man’s chest. Mack Daddy bails. They end up in Rev’s office with Rev. They lock the door, despite just seeing Lep blast a hole in that dude’s chest. Lep is trying to break the door down. They rig a trap for him. He charges in and P opens the door and he runs right into a safe. Lep mentions something about Zombie Fly Girls. This will be amazing, obviously.
There’s a pretty young lady in with the Rev and she is definitely a Zombie Fly Girl. Lep escaped and just punched through Rev’s chest. That death feels a little redundant after the bodyguard’s death. The guys have a song called “Stray Bullet to the Heart”. Fantastic. Berry Grady is VP of A&R for Dope Discs. They are going to Vegas. Zombie Fly Girls show up to celebrate. Hell yeah. There’s Lep, as well. Stray tries to pull a gun on Lep. He then makes him aim the gun at Butch’s dome. They tell Post to give him the fucking flute. P tries to be aggressive toward Lep. He then forces Stray to aim the gun on himself and pull the trigger. That is a shame. They leave Stray in an empty car in the middle of nowhere in the city. Butch tells P that it’s over and just go home. Daryl did the same shit in TWD and his aggression got Glenn killed.
Lep auditions a new Fly Girl and she’s pretty. Lep then visits P’s grandma. Now hold up. The door opens, she hears him walk toward her. She reaches down and touches his hat. But if she’s blind, why is she assuming a child is coming in and not start higher. She’s be grabbing some balls on a normal height dude. She offers him some good food. She’s gonna feed him. This is funny and she accidentally forks his eyeball. Then P wakes up thinking it was a dream. Stray is knocking at the door. Then P wakes up again. There’s knocking at the door again and it’s Butch.
Butch has been reading Leprechauns For Dummies. I wonder how much those books made in total and do people still buy them This was 20 years ago. I need to check Amazon. Yup, they’re still a thing. Post wants to get the flute back. The plan is to get Lep to smoke some weed laced with 4 leaf clovers. Good plan! The only way to get close is for both to put on makeup and dress like women. Seriously, not what you’d expect in this film, but kinda funny. P is too jacked and Butch is too damn ugly. And they pretend like they ain’t worried about Mack Daddy.
They go to the club where Lep and the Zombie Fly Girls are staying. “Lep in the hood come to do no good,” says the Zombie Fly Girls as they get high and return to normal. They get in Lep’s room and wake him up. They get him to smoke as Lep is being a pervert. Hahaha. He wants P to suck his D. Lep then passes the fuck out and P steals the flute. Time to bail. One problem, Mack Daddy is there and just shot and killed Butch. Butch wonders if there is pussy in Heaven. it’s a good question.
P trying to act tough toward Mack. P shoots Mack 3 times. And Lep is now behind P. P asks Lep about mack Daddy and Lep won’t fall for it this time and Mack attacks. Lep kills Mack and the last thing that he did was toss the medallion in the air as Lep shrieks. Post is now a solo performer. P performs, but he has green eyes. Lep takes credit for teaching him everything he knows.
And then the exclamation point to this film. Lep starts rapping “Lep in the hood” and it is amazing. I can’t help it. I have to post this.
End Film
This isn’t a great film, but it is beyond fucking entertaining. Much like how Bride of Chucky knew what they were trying to do and killed it, this film knew exactly what it wanted to do and nailed it. This is definitely my favorite of the Leprechaun films and I have no shame in saying that. The original is arguably a better film. This is just pure fun. There are a lot of interesting characters. There’s a lot of talent in this film too.
I’m reading on Wiki that some reviewer claimed that a hip hop themed sequel was inevitable. At what fucking point in the history of this franchise did this seem inevitable? When did any of the other big franchises go hip hop? Friday the 13th was in Manhattan and had an urban vibe. Halloween 7 and 8 featured hip hop artists like LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes. Still, none of that felt like a precursor to using a term like inevitable. Some people just use words and say things and think that nobody is going to call them out on their shit. Go ahead and read this jackass’ review. I spit on pretentious people like this who claim they’re right after the fact. There’s nothing inevitable about this. The whole argument is based around the fact that Leprechaun says a lot of rhymes and that made it inevitable. Fucking A. Sorry, I had to rant.
Rating: 6.4 – I don’t care, I found this movie entertaining as hell and there was much more to like than to dislike. I feel that is very important. The franchise would never be this fun ever again and I don’t think Warwick ever looked this happy again.
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