On release, critical reception to the film was negative. Writing for "The Deseret News", Chris Hicks said that the film should have been released direct-to-video. Also criticizing Trimark's release of the film, "The Austin Chronicle"s Marc Savlov called it clichéd, uninteresting, and an "utter waste of perfectly good Kodak film stock". Internet-based critic James Berardinelli called it "unwatchable" and not even enjoyably bad, and Matt Bourjaily of the "Chicago Tribune" wrote that the film "has brought new meaning to the term 'bad'". At the "Los Angeles Daily News", Robert Strauss called it "as witless and worthless a horror film as could possibly be conjured". "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" critic Ron Weiskind called the film incompetent and criticized the film's acting, lack of suspense, and production values. Weiskind concluded, "Forget about the proverbial pot of gold. The movie "Leprechaun" is a crock."