Rumpelstiltskin

A strange urge took possession over me and encouraged me to re-watch this epic piece of fairy-tale terror with an attitude. I can't help it, but I'm still having fun with this one. Liked it the first time, and I still do. It's from the director who brought us that other masterpiece of little people's horror, the original LEPRECHAUN. Believe it or not, both movies are just about on par with each other and equally enjoyable. If it's not clear already: Yes, we're talking B-movie tongue-in-cheek horror. But at least it was shot on real film and doesn't suffer from a cheap shot-on-video look (like a lot of B-movies from the late 90's do).

RUMPELSTILSKIN is a nonsensical take on a Grimm fairy-tale gone bad. After being imprisoned for about 500 years in a little statue made out of stone (at the bottom of the ocean, no less), Rumpelstiltskin gets set free by a grieving, young mother, who just bought the statue in some antique-store. Now our little devilish fiend wants the soul of mommy's baby, to render himself immortal.

While most mediocre horror efforts from the 90's made the mistake playing it serious when not up to the task, at least there was nonsense like RUMPELSTILTSKIN that has its idiotic heart at the right place. Main attraction is, without a doubt, Max Grodénchik as the titular little bastard, spewing one ridiculous one-liner after another. At one point he even quotes Col. Hannibal from THE A-TEAM by saying "I love it when a plan comes together", while driving an 8-wheeler and puffing on a cigar. And that's by far not his best one-liner. But who would have guessed a 15th century troll-demon would know who George Peppard is…?

If the first encounter between Shelley Stewart (the young mother) and freshly unleashed Rumpelstiltskin doesn't win you over, then I'm afraid the rest of the movie might be lost on you too. When trying to protect her baby, Shelley - who appears to be so mild-hearted and very gentle at first - begins with kicking Rumpy in the balls, then suddenly pulls out a big knife and viciously shouts "When you take one more step, I'll rip your head off and shove it up your ass!" (and she said it like she meant it). She then proceeds cutting off one of his fingers, planting the knife in his forehead and even shoving a spike-shaped broomstick into his mouth. I mean, if that doesn't put a grin on your face, I'm not sure what will.

The rest of the film is a ridiculously fun ride and the movie's pace even gets upped a bit by injecting that road-movie vibe, halfway through the film. To top it off, there's some fun make-up effects by Kevin Yagher (check out the man's resumé if you've never heard of him and you'll see he always delivers the goods).

It's harmless fun, I tell you. But stay away from it if you feel like taking yourself too seriously.

Okay, "Rumpelstiltskin" is another one of those horror films that aren't really scary or terrifying, just plain silly and funny with a script filled in with a bunch of lame one-liners. However, I found this film rather entertaining since it's directed and co-scripted by Mark Jones, the creator of "Leprechaun", though this was the third and last film he ever wrote and directed.

What we have here is a grotesque Freddy Krueger-like hunchbacked baby-stealing punk whose name is the movie's title, who (loosely based on the children's fairytale) is cursed by an old hag who imprisons him in a brownish-green rock for one-thousand years for trying to steal the Baby John's soul so that he could live on for eternity and never be killed. One-thousand years later in present day Los Angeles, a woman's police officer husband is killed by an armed carjacker in the line of duty. A few days later she finds the stone that Rumpelstiltskin is imprisoned, drops a tear on it (that's what you have to do to release him, with a tear and a true wish) when crying and remembering her dead husband. Somehow, Rumpelstiltskin is released from his imprisonment, transforms into the woman's husdband, makes love to her, and turns back into himself to suck her baby's soul out. Later on we have a whole hell of a lot of exciting things going on, including Rumpelstiltskin chasing after her and her baby and a sleazy television host in a huge truck wreaking even further havoc till the very end.

Despite its low-budget and amateurish acting, the picture does have its great moments and memorable situations, but refuses to deliver any real shocks or a lick of redeeming value though it does have some excellent special make-up effects by Kevin Yagher (Child's Play 1, 2, 3 and Bride of Chucky).

So give "Rumpelstiltskin" a chance and you'll have a good time with this fast-paced flick.

I did not really think much of this movie when I first saw the video in the video shop. But when I saw it.........WHAM This is a good horror, and if you showed this to a kid he would cry whenever you told him the story of Rumpelstiltskin. This is a crazy film with a weird story and a pretty average ending. I would recommend this to anyone who likes horror movies like me!. I would give this a 5 out of 10.

This is one of my favourite movies of all time, it has it all! While i agree with most that the plot and acting is pretty weak, the truly classic one-liners more than make up for this. For instance, he utters "go thou thundering steed" while driving an articulated lorry, He takes out a cigar before announcing "ahh, another bad habit" and probably my favourite line in history "fucketh me"(he says this just before his truck crashes!).I saw this movie first in '97 and have bought it since and it has not lost any of its charm. All in all, if you want to have a laugh then you should definitely rent or buy this movie as it is hilarious! Hilariously bad(but in a good way).

Rumpelstiltskin is based on story by the Grimm brothers, and it has been filmed few times before, including once starring the great midget himself Billy Barty as Rumpelstiltskin. However this version seems to be just a cheap Leprechaun rip off, you can easily imagine the baby chasing Rumpelstiltskin replaced by Warvick Davis chasing a pot of gold.

I cant say I watched this movie from beginning to end with great interest, in fact I missed the other half almost completely. So there is a change that during the second half there was some big and unique plot revelation that makes this movie rise to a classic level, but I think not. Overally Rumpelstiltskin is just your typical cheap D-grade horrorflick which is made with little or no talent or enthusiasm.

The actors are lifeless, including the guy playing the villain Rumpelstiltskin, Max Grodénchik. This is a shame because a good villain can save a lot in these kinds of movies. Too bad Grodenchik lacks the personality to make the character work. Kevin Yaghers Rumpelstiltskin make up is pretty uninspired too.

Overally.. this is a very bad and cheaply done horror film with lousy acting. 3/10 is pretty rightful rating for it. Some of you bad horror film fans might like it, but I suggest not to invest money in it.