''Red Clover'' (also known as ''Leprechaun's Revenge'' and ''St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun'') is a 2012 made for television

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed by

Drew Daywalt Drew Daywalt (born January 5, 1970), is an American author and filmmaker. He is best known for writing the best-selling children's picture book ''The Day the Crayons Quit'', and its sequel '' The Day the Crayons Came Home'', both illustrated by O ...

. The movie was originally made under the title ''Red Clover'', but was changed to ''Leprechaun's Revenge'' for a March 17, 2012 television release on the Syfy Channel. The title was switched back to ''Red Clover'' for its 2013 DVD release. ''Red Clover'' stars

Billy Zane William George Zane Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the Australian film ''Dead Calm (film), Dead Calm'' (1989), a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association, ...

as a Massachusetts sheriff who must save his town from a homicidal

leprechaun A leprechaun () is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. In later times, they have bee ...

Plot

Set in the fictional town of Keening, Massachusetts, the movie follows Karen O'Hara ( Courtney Halverson), a young woman who is largely unaware of the town's true bloody past. About sixty-six years ago, a horrific massacre devastated the town, and since that time the town has decided to forgo any

St. Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chri ...

festivities. The town managed to temporarily rid themselves of the killer, a bloodthirsty

, by sending it to another dimension by way of an old book. However, Karen accidentally sets the monster free one day while she is out hunting. The leprechaun immediately sets about killing several people, but Karen's father, Sheriff Connor O'Hara (

), is unwilling to believe 'Pops' O'Hara's (

William Devane William Joseph Devane (born September 5, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Greg Sumner on the primetime soap opera ''Knots Landing'' (1983–1993) and as James Heller on the Fox serial dramas '' 24'' (2001–2010) and '' ...

) claims that the murders are perpetuated by a supposedly mythical being.

Cast

as Sheriff Connor O'Hara * Courtney Halverson as Karen O'Hara *

as "Pops" O'Hara * Dave Randolph-Mayhem Davis as Dax Spence (credited as Dave Davis) * Kevin Mangold as The Leprechaun *

Azure Parsons Azure Parsons (born October 5, 1984) is an American actress. She has appeared in a number of films, including ''2 Guns'', ''Paradise'', and '' Dark Places'', and television shows like ''Death Valley'', ''Castle'', and ''True Detective''. In 2014, ...

as Officer Jen Peterson * Kelly Washington as Amanda McHenry * Derek Babb as Josh * Chase Boltin as Ben * Joseph Randy Causin as Parade Goer * Danny Cosmo as Leprechaun Man * Matty Ferraro as Tannen * Andrea Frankle as Mrs. Jones * Emily D. Haley as Parade Fan * Karl Herlinger as Karl Morris * Kent Jude Bernard as Enos *

Gabriel Jarret Gabriel Jarret (born Gabriel Kronsberg; January 1, 1970) is an American actor. He began his career in 1981. He is best known for his role as the young genius Mitch Taylor in the 1985 comedy film ''Real Genius'' in which he co-starred with Val Ki ...

as Harris * Thomas Francis Murphy as Dr. McCormick * Dane Rhodes as Wally "Happy" O'Shannon * Glen Warner as Green Face Man (uncredited)

Production

Daywalt began working on ''Red Clover'' while developing another project with ''After Dark'', who had asked him to direct for them after viewing some of his other work. During the development of the film, writer Ferrante wanted to make the leprechaun character "creepy and organic" and wanted to avoid the typical clothing associated with

St. Patrick’s Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

. One of the weapons used in the film, a staff with four sharpened

horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...

s on it, was developed after Ferrante joked that they could call the movie "Four-Leaf Cleaver". Filming took place in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

Reception

Critical reception for ''Red Clover'' under its original name and its DVD release were mixed to negative. Comparisons were made to the ''

Leprechaun A leprechaun () is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. In later times, they have bee ...

'' film series and the movie's plot was one of the most commonly criticized elements of ''Red Clover''. At the same time, several reviewers acknowledged that the film had some entertainment value as a

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose revie ...

gave a mixed review, stating that "this isn't as plainly awful as almost everything that airs on that network, but that doesn't mean it's very good, either". In contrast, the review from ''HorrorNews.net'' was largely positive, praising the movie's dialogue and acting.

References

External links

* * {{Rotten tomatoes, red_clover_2013 2012 horror films 2012 television films 2012 films 2010s supernatural films American supernatural horror films Films set in Massachusetts Films shot in Louisiana Leprechaun films Syfy original films Holiday horror films Saint Patrick's Day films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language horror films