Mark Jones, the writer-director who gave the world Leprechaun and launched Jennifer Aniston's film career in the process, died January 17 at West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles. He was 72.
Let's be clear: Leprechaun is not a good movie. It's a ridiculous, low-budget horror comedy about a murderous Irish sprite terrorizing people over stolen gold. The effects are cheesy. The logic is nonexistent. Warwick Davis chews scenery with the dedication of a Shakespearean actor slumming it for a paycheck.
And it's glorious.
Jones understood something fundamental about B-movies that many filmmakers miss: commitment. He didn't wink at the camera or apologize for the premise. He made a movie about a killer leprechaun and played it straight, trusting audiences to find the humor in the absurdity.
The film spawned six sequels, including Leprechaun in Space and Leprechaun in the Hood—each more deranged than the last. None matched the original's strange alchemy, but they proved Jones had created something enduring. People don't make six sequels to forgettable movies.
Before becoming a cult horror director, Jones worked extensively in television, writing for The A-Team, Knight Rider, ALF, and various animated series including Super Friends and Scooby-Doo. He later directed Rumpelstiltskin, Quiet Kill, Triloquist, and Scorned—a body of work that never pretended to be anything other than genre entertainment.
Scott Baio remembered him as "a truly kind and gentle soul who loved animals and cared deeply about the people around him." It's a fitting tribute to someone who spent his career making people smile, even if those smiles were occasionally accompanied by groans.
Hollywood tends to lionize auteurs and overlook journeymen. But the Mark Joneses of the world matter too. They keep crews employed, give young actors their first breaks, and create the kind of weird, wonderful trash that becomes midnight movie staples.
Rest in peace to a B-movie auteur who understood that entertainment doesn't always need to be elevated—sometimes it just needs to be fun.
