Plot
In Las Vegas, a man with missing body parts sells the statue of a leprechaun to pawn shop owner, Gupta. The statue has a medallion around its neck, which Gupta removes, despite being warned not to. As Gupta examines a pot of gold coins found with the statue, the leprechaun, Lubdan, comes to life and attacks him, severing his big toe and part of his ear. Seeing the medallion, Lubdan flees into the back of the shop with his pot o’ gold, dropping a coin in the process. Gupta sees a computer program on Irish folklore, which says that a leprechaun’s coin will grant the holder one wish, and that their power resides in the gold. After realizing he is missing a coin, Lubdan tricks Gupta into putting away the medallion and kills him by strangling him with a telephone cord.
Meanwhile, Scott McCoy, a college student passing through Vegas, helps a stranded motorist, Tammy, get to her job at the Lucky Shamrock Casino, as her motorcycle has broken down. Scott convinces Tammy to sneak him into the casino, where he gambles away all his tuition money. On the advice of casino employee Loretta, Scott goes to the pawn shop to sell his watch and finds Gupta's corpse and the missing coin. Seeing the computer program, and not realizing a gold coin is nearby, Scott makes a nonchalant wish to be back at the casino on a winning streak; he is then teleported back to the casino, unknowingly escaping an attack by Lubdan, who knows that Scott has the coin.
At the casino, Scott finds himself winning big by playing roulette. Wanting to stop anymore financial losses, the casino owner, Mitch, closes the table and gives Scott a free room at the hotel. Scott runs into Tammy, who advises him to go to his room and hide out there until her shift is over. Loretta and the casino’s resident magician Fazio conspire to rob Scott of his winnings, plus the coin. Fazio breaks into Scott's room, only able to steal the coin before fleeing. Scott is then attacked by Lubdan and manages to throw him out the window, but not before some of Lubdan’s blood gets into a wound on his arm.
Loretta takes the coin from Fazio, which is then stolen by Mitch, who makes a sarcastic wish to have sex with Tammy. Under the coin's spell, Tammy seduces Mitch, and they go to his suite. Just as Tammy is about to undress, Loretta steals the coin back, breaking the spell on Tammy. She rejects Mitch's advances, and he fires her in return. After Tammy leaves the suite, Lubdan appears and tricks Mitch into watching a woman undress on the TV. The woman then crawls out of the TV and straddles Mitch in bed, pinning him down. Lubdan then transforms the woman into a robot, electrocuting Mitch to death.
Scott begins showing traits of a leprechaun, with random cravings for potatoes and speaking with an Irish accent. He later runs into a distraught Tammy. They go up to Mitch's suite and find him dead, with Lubdan nearby. Scott and Tammy escape, but Scott's condition worsens as he starts physically turning into a leprechaun. They decide to go to the pawn shop, hoping to find answers and a cure.
Meanwhile, Loretta uses the coin to wish for the body of a young, sexy woman. While showing her newfound beauty to Fazio, he steals the coin and flees her dressing room. Lubdan then causes Loretta to grow exponentially, to the point of explosion, by magically inflating her breasts, lips and buttocks.
In the pawn shop, Scott and Tammy find Lubdan’s pot of gold. Lubdan attacks, but they manage to escape. As Scott's condition worsens further, Tammy rushes him to a hospital for care. Lubdan takes Tammy hostage in the hospital's morgue, demanding to know where the coin is. Scott, now fully transformed, tells him that Fazio has it.
Using the coin, Fazio wishes to be the world's greatest magician. During Fazio's midnight show, Lubdan traps Fazio in a box prop. Thinking it is a part of the show, the audience watches as Lubdan uses a chainsaw to cut Fazio's box in half. The crowd goes into a panic as Lubdan reveals Fazio's bisected corpse.
Scott, Tammy and the audience flee. Scott battles Lubdan and burns the pot o’ gold, which kills the leprechaun and reverts Scott back to his normal form. As Scott and Tammy leave the casino, she reveals she found the coin. Though tempted to make a wish, Tammy decides she is happy with what she has with Scott. They discard the coin and leave the casino together.
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Production
After optioning a spec script of his own to Blue Rider Productions, screenwriter David DuBos was given an opportunity to pitch for Leprechaun 3. DuBos, who hadn't seen the previous two films, was only given the guideline of "Leprechaun in Las Vegas" for his pitch. DuBos won against six other writers and had to quickly put together a script due to an impending production start.[3] Brian Trenchard-Smith, director of Night of the Demons 2 was selected to helm the film. Trimark Pictures had considered making the film the final entry in the series.[4] The film was shot over the course of 14 days in Los Angeles, California, with only one day taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada.[5]
Reception
The film holds a 0% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 5 reviews.[10]
Actor Warwick Davis would later claim the film as his favorite of the series: "I think it tapped into the potential of bringing a comedic element to it all. And Brian Trenchard-Smith, who directed that one, is an incredible director. He manages to get so much out of so little money, and that was what was great about working with him. He really got the humor".[11]
