THE LEPRECHAUN-ARTIST is another dumb instalment of THE NEW TWILIGHT ZONE, with a silly enough premise and look that I half expected Warwick Davis to pop up at any moment. Indeed I half wonder if the whole idea for those interminable LEPRECHAUN movies didn't stem from this episode after all...
In any case, the storyline involves a group of young teenagers who are after the usual kicks and stumble upon a leprechaun in the woods (as you do). It turns out the little guy has the power to grant wishes, but inevitably it all goes horribly wrong, leaving the kids with the moralistic lesson that life isn't as bad as you first think.
This is pretty much a sappy and uninteresting tale, with low rent production values and an unwelcome emphasis on comedy before anything else. The only notable thing for me was the presence of a black actor in a lead role, something noticeably missing from this series so far.
DEAD RUN is much better with an intriguing idea behind the story: a trucker is tasked with delivering a human cargo. His task? The souls in his truck have been condemned to eternal damnation so he's literally taking them on the road to Hell. The story boasts a neat performance by the reliable Steve Railsbeck who plays the on-edge trucker and it has a great little narrative with some good twists along the way. It's not perfect but it does make you think which says something.