Rumpelstillskin fails to deliver on the hype you may come to expect if you've seen those clever Leprechaun movies.
This movie in my view actually tries too hard to explain the origin and m.o. of the title creature and thus detracts from its status as a crappy "creature flick." Part of what I find funny in these films is that something hits you completely off-guard and for no apparent reason. Here, all you have to truly wonder about is how Rumpelstiltskin knows how to drive a Harley and then a Semi. The movie begins in late medieval Europe, a scene replete with clichéd, scruffy pitchfork-carrying peasants. The townsfolk chase down the monster and a witch in the crowd manages to trap Rumpy in a statuette before he can eat the baby he stole (evidently the fairy tale's basis is in reality).
Skip to "present day." Now this was confusing because even though this movie is allegedly from 1996 (and that's when I recall seeing it the first time), the celluloid's grainy-ness, actors' clothing, and general feel suggest a filming from at least a few years earlier. A widow with a newborn is dragged by a friend (with a high-pitched whiny voice) to the store of a mystical witch who sells trinkets, including a certain statuette. Said widow releases Rumpy by wishing upon it that her husband were alive to see the baby. He comes back, makes sweet love to her, then changes into the beast he truly is. He thus sets off a chase across the countryside as she tries to hide the baby, eventually enlisting the help of a local TV personality, and they lock Rumpy up again in a pointless and unexciting fashion not worth dwelling on here. They hoist the statuette into the sea in a bid to set up a sequel. Boring summary, isn't it? The movie's much of the same.
This movie is really sort of dry compared to the other creature flicks, and it overall isn't all that funny, which is what I look for in the BAD movies. Rumpy has a few one-liners that are mildly entertaining and the climactic battle is funny in an overacted, over-dramatized sort of way. The monster also walks around in duck walk all the time for some reason, which is sort of funny to watch, as is the actor's grotesque appearance.
There's really not much more to say about it. This one is really only for those hardcore fans of crappy horror flicks. Certainly don't let your kids watch it - this has nothing to do with the harmless character of Grimm brothers fame.
This movie in my view actually tries too hard to explain the origin and m.o. of the title creature and thus detracts from its status as a crappy "creature flick." Part of what I find funny in these films is that something hits you completely off-guard and for no apparent reason. Here, all you have to truly wonder about is how Rumpelstiltskin knows how to drive a Harley and then a Semi. The movie begins in late medieval Europe, a scene replete with clichéd, scruffy pitchfork-carrying peasants. The townsfolk chase down the monster and a witch in the crowd manages to trap Rumpy in a statuette before he can eat the baby he stole (evidently the fairy tale's basis is in reality).
Skip to "present day." Now this was confusing because even though this movie is allegedly from 1996 (and that's when I recall seeing it the first time), the celluloid's grainy-ness, actors' clothing, and general feel suggest a filming from at least a few years earlier. A widow with a newborn is dragged by a friend (with a high-pitched whiny voice) to the store of a mystical witch who sells trinkets, including a certain statuette. Said widow releases Rumpy by wishing upon it that her husband were alive to see the baby. He comes back, makes sweet love to her, then changes into the beast he truly is. He thus sets off a chase across the countryside as she tries to hide the baby, eventually enlisting the help of a local TV personality, and they lock Rumpy up again in a pointless and unexciting fashion not worth dwelling on here. They hoist the statuette into the sea in a bid to set up a sequel. Boring summary, isn't it? The movie's much of the same.
This movie is really sort of dry compared to the other creature flicks, and it overall isn't all that funny, which is what I look for in the BAD movies. Rumpy has a few one-liners that are mildly entertaining and the climactic battle is funny in an overacted, over-dramatized sort of way. The monster also walks around in duck walk all the time for some reason, which is sort of funny to watch, as is the actor's grotesque appearance.
There's really not much more to say about it. This one is really only for those hardcore fans of crappy horror flicks. Certainly don't let your kids watch it - this has nothing to do with the harmless character of Grimm brothers fame.