User Reviews

I give this movie 3 out of 10, but only for one reason (otherwise it would be 1 out of 10). Kim Johnston Ulrich is actually very likeable as the mother, showing a lot of courage and guts. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is a well-drawn character, but it isn't your usual "scream queen" but more like Linda Hamilton in "Terminator". Otherwise this film is a mess, it's low-budget showing in almost every scene. Rumpelstiltskin himself is extremely annoying, mouthing bad one-liners almost every minute. The special-effects are not that much to write home about either and the less said about other characters the better (I must confess I even disliked the baby, wishing for a unhappy ending). It's also surprisingly boring despite a healthy pace throughout. My suggestion: don't watch but give ms Ulrich a better part in something else.

Well, you'd have to be pretty desperate to tolerate this stupidity, and this comes from someone who actually enjoyed "Leprechaun"! Actually, the movie that director/writer Mark Jones mostly rips off here is "The Terminator"! (if you a fan, you'll recognize at least three "homages"). Rumpelstiltskin's puns are utterly lame ("Now we're smoking"), and the male hero is incredibly irritating. However, I agree with the person who wrote that the movie's only redeeming factor is the strong, credible performance given by the actress who plays the female lead. In fact, she's so good that she doesn't fit in with the rest of the picture. (*1/2)

When I rented Rumpelstiltskin I had mixed feelings about it. I had rented Pinocciho's Revenge and that sucked, so renting another childrens fairy tale turned into a horror movie was questionable. But I said what the hell, for $3.50 might as well give it a shot, and you know somethin, the movie rocked. Everyone that knows me knows, that JAWS is my num. 1 favorite movie, then came Tremors and Leprechaun, but when I rented Rumpelstiltskin, out went the Leprechaun ass first and Rumpy took over. This movie rocks. It's a mix of horror action and comedy. Max Grodenchick did an awesome job and for anyone that gave Rumpelstiltskin a bad review, well you can just go rent it again, then push the eject butten, take the movie, turn it side - ways, and stick it straight up your candy @$$!

Not much to say except that was one very bad film. The poor lead actress was the only good thing about it and she had to go through the whole awful film.

Thank god it was only shown on very late night TV, though why I taped it thinking it was going to be interesting is beyond me.

I'd give this mess 2/10

Director Mark Jones attempts to replicate the success of his 1993 light-hearted horror hit Leprechaun with yet another tongue-in-cheek effort featuring an ugly, ancient, diminutive, wise-cracking fairytale villain; instead of 'I need me gold?', it's 'I want the baby John', wicked goblin Rumplestiltskin being more concerned with collecting the soul of an infant than in gathering up the shiny yellow stuff.

Jones opens his film in the 1400s, somewhere in Europe, with Rumplestiltskin (Max Grodénchik) being pursued by angry villagers who are a little upset about his baby-stealing ways. As punishment, the pointy-eared chap is turned into a stone figurine and thrown into the sea. Cut to the present, and the hideous statuette is now on sale in a dusty old antiques shop in Los Angeles, where it catches the eye of recently bereaved cop's wife Shelley (Kim Johnston Ulrich); clearly doing alright on her widow's pension, Shelley buys the ugly effigy, but comes to regret her decision after she makes a wish whilst holding her new purchase: Rumplestiltskin, revived by Shelley's tears, makes her dream come true (granting her a brief reunion with her dead husband), but wants her baby son John in payment for services rendered.

Rumplestilitskin is a reasonably entertaining slice of mid-90s trash: the script is suitably silly, the pacing reasonably fast, the gore good 'n' cheesy, and the dialogue delightfully daft ("F**keth me!"), with dumb but fun highlights including Rumpel going all Easy Rider on a Harley, and a desert buggy versus truck highway chase scene between Rumpel and unlikely hero Max (Tommy Blaze) that ends with a surprisingly decent crash/explosion. Essentially, it's a Leprechaun movie in all but name, and should prove passable entertainment for any fan of Warwick Davies' long-running franchise.

That said, if I were forced to choose between Leprechaun and Rumplestiltskin, I'd have to go with the cheeky Oirish chappie's first outing, partly because Davies makes for a more memorable monster than Grodénchik, but mostly because Davies' co-star was a young Jennifer Aniston. Kim Johnston Ulrich is pretty, but she's no Aniston (although, unlike the Friends star, she does provide some welcome nudity).

I have heard the term "epic fail", which may die out quickly, so people in 2020 won't know what it means. I wouldn't know what the term means if I didn't see this movie.

"Epic fail".

It's another of the modern day invincible monster movies. A monster, that for some reason mutilates everyone except the only two people that would make sense to mutilate.

The worst part of the movie is the leading man. We know as soon as we see the "talk show" that he will be the leading man. It isn't disguised. He is a Howard Stern rip off. Howard Stern, for those of you who will read this in 2020 and not know who he is, was the dullest talk show host ever. He paraded half naked voluptuous women, talked about sex, and still managed to be horribly boring. If there was a prize for "Negative Talent" or "Zero Talent", he would win it.

Same for this leading man. He comes up with the ideas that any normal guy would, but we never buy that he has that creativity.

Which all goes into the "epic fail" of the movie.

We expect clichés. This movie uses all of the wrong clichés. The dull ones. The ones that alienate guys. The ones that take all the fun out of movies. All of them.

The writers try too hard to write what they think will be "funny" or "memorable" lines, but they are just flat. It doesn't work.

"Epic Fail".

"Hmm, there's beautiful big money to make with horror movies about ugly little creeps…" That's what writer/director Mark Jones must have thought after the release of "Leprechaun" in 1993 and, since other directors were already making sequels to his horror movie, he promptly started writing a script revolving on another midget committing nasty and gruesome deeds. There are quite a number of similarities between "Rumpelstiltskin" and "Leprechaun", even aside from the titular characters' short length. Both movies revolve on unworldly creatures – one from the Irish mythology and the other a medieval fairy tale character – being unleashed in modern civilized times. They're both fanatically searching for something that righteously belongs to them, whether it's a pot of gold or the soul of a firstborn baby, and they are eager to butcher a whole lot of people whilst firing off one cheesy and ludicrous one-liner after the other. I vividly remember reading and listening to the fairy-tale version of "Rumpelstiltskin" as a child. It was one of my favorite macabre stories, what with its 15th Century rural setting and a plot containing elements like child kidnapping and emotional blackmail. The film version opens in these dark medieval times, but then quickly jumps forth in time towards the violence-infested streets of LA in the 1990's. Rumpelstiltskin is locked away in a magic stone, but he's set free when a mourning mother sheds a tear on the stone and wishes for her recently killed husband to come back from the dead and meet their son. When the wish is granted, hideous little Uncle Rumpel (as he hilariously refers to himself once or twice) claims ownership of baby John. The rest of the film depicts Rumpelstiltskin chasing after mother, child and a TV host guy who says equally retarded stuff as the evil dwarf. "Rumpelstiltskin" is fairly enjoyable 90's horror shlock, but you obviously cannot expect a good or even half-decent movie. Mark Jones seemingly hesitated about what he wanted to achieve as well, as the opening sequences (with the tragic death of a young policeman and his struggling being left behind at eight months of pregnancy) are serious-toned and melodramatic, but then as soon as Rumpel shows his hideous face the movie turns into a fast-paced and almost slapstick type of horror comedy. The little creep pretends to be Arnold Schwarzenegger in "The Terminator" because he smokes big cigars and consecutively steals a heavy motorcycle and a gigantic petrol truck. There are a couple of imaginative killings, but don't expect any gore. Max Grodénchik isn't as menacing as Warwick Davis was in "Leprechaun" – especially the voice isn't creepy enough – but he definitely is ugly enough for the job. Lead actress Kim Johnston Ulrich is very good, but all her direct colleagues Tommy Blaze and particularly Allyce Beasley only evoke sentiments of irritation.

I do love a great eighties horror film. They're so bad they're good. Therefore, I was delighted when I found 'Rumpelstiltskin' on Netflix and wondered how I managed to miss this one during the eighties. Then, about halfway through, I realised (with a little help from the internet) that it was actually made in the nineties. I don't really know why I feel the need to mention that so early – perhaps because the film simply feels like it was made in the eighties. That and because I couldn't get the Terminator out of my head.

Rumpelstiltskin is a – sort of – modern take on the fairy tale about the little man who tries to steal babies unless you can guess his name. He was happily kiddie-snatching all those hundreds of years ago when a crafty old witch only caught him in the act and banished him into a statue. Then, in the eighties (yes, I still refuse to believe that this was filmed in the nineties) he's thawed out, yadder, yadder, yadder and now he's after another mum with another baby.

And, in my opinion, it kind of felt like the original Terminator film. There was an unstoppable creature hunting down a helpless woman with a man to protect her. Okay, so Sarah Connor was lucky enough to have Kyle Reece to help her out. Here, the female protagonist has a sleezy chat-show host to generally get in the way and wind her up. He's definitely no Kyle Reece, but he is pretty amusing.

Rumpelstiltskin could just be another monster B-movie, but it's basically saved by the titular monster's performance. He's just so delightfully nasty. He's impervious to pain and knows it. Therefore, he likes to take his time as he stalks and terrorises all those who get in his way.

The film knows what it is and doesn't ever try and take itself seriously. If you like slightly tongue in cheek films with a thoroughly evil little man at the centre of it all then give this horror classic a go (especially if you can catch it on Netflix for free!).

The video case that I read had "From the creators of Leprechaun" on the front cover and that alone should have been a good enough warning to what you might see. And it doesn't disappoint. To be honest, I don't like the aforementioned film and "Rumpelstiltskin" is pretty much in the same style from its fairytale theme, jokey attitude, chase elements, hideous 90s fashion, a touch of nastiness and an ugly, but charismatic little folklore monster (this time a Brothers Grimm creation). I found the Rumpelstilskin character to be a little less annoying, but this doesn't make it much better. Here we have the wicked gnome materialising in the 20th century, after being cursed by a witch which saw him turned into a stone many centuries ago. Now that he's been released and a wish has been granted, he goes after the widow's first born. Quite low-budget, as the story (a bedtime fairytale coming to life, which steals its thunder from "The Terminator"!) remains on the move flinging out many outrageous set-pieces (ending off in the usual atmospheric graveyard… the place to be), but never does it take itself that seriously. The story is clichéd, but there are few unusual plot developments. Max Grodénchik decked out in some decent looking make-up, cracks out the one-liners and can leave a bloody mess of destruction. What occurs is somewhat lousy, but sort of fun in a silly way. Kim Johnston Ulrich is affably strong in the central role (a lot better than the material asks for and deserves) and Tommy Blaze ("I'm an asshole. Not a hero") makes for a aggravating jerk with some outright scary looking shirts and a rapid mouth. Also appearing are Allyce Beasley, Jack McGee and Mark Holton. And there are plenty of bemused faces. Mark Jones direction is competent, but quite mechanical and unassuming with its lively pacing and performances' giving it's up and go. Tacky, but harmless horror comedy junk.

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).

Did you ever see Leprechaun? If you answered 'yes' continue. Did you like it? If you answered 'no', get out of here fast and don't watch Rumpelstiltskin.

Sorry, that was just a quick filter to stop potential 'haters' of this movie seeing it or reading this. So if you like horror, you'll be aware that between around 1988-1996 the genre was ridiculous and terrible, bar a few noble exceptions. Only 99% of the stuff that came out was terrible. However, as a kid, it was great to be able to watch things like Leprechaun/Rumpelstiltskin and be mildly scared (mostly by the box cover) and be amused also.

I have fond memories of Rumpelstiltskin, and when I watched it yesterday I still enjoyed it. It's nothing special, but Rumpelstiltskin looks quite evil, says lines like "this ain't no fairytale" and even raises the dead once. Awesome!

You can see the director thought 'shit, look at my budget, I don't need all that', so he just decided to blow stuff up. There are some great explosions of trucks...yes, there is a Rumpelstiltskin car chase!

Criticisms. Acting: the acting was so bad, not quite 'Manos' bad, but everyone bar the mother of the baby and the cop who dies early on were terrible. Even little Rumpel is only OK, would have liked less comic humour and more sinister stuff. Plot: It's weak and sometimes it's too slow, others too fast. Like when Rumpel is unleashed the pacing goes out the window. Though I must say, there's plenty of the little guy in this movie and that's what we want to see so I can't complain. Rumpel: He's a good character, but if it wasn't for Leprechaun's cult following would they have made Rumpel more sinister? It may not have worked because he's laughable even before he speaks.

This movie works only if you suspend all belief and expect as little as possible. It helps if you're bored and just don't care what you watch also. 6/10 just because of it's faint charm and explosions. There is no horror to be found in this movie!

These is film is a horrible mix-up between an old fairytale and modern horror movie. For a start the plot seems rather unconvincing and the effects and the actors are just as dreadful as you could expects for this type of movie.

The main character is very poorly played by Kim Ulrich Johnston, who by all means should have taken at least some acting lessons. Max Grodénchik, who seems to be an actor that even Ed Wood would have turned down if he applied for a role in any film, plays Rumpelstiltskin so poorly that it makes you cry. The effects almost convince you that this movie was made in the 70s instead of '96. I've seen far better effects in 50s movies, e.g. ‘Santa Claus conquers the Martians' and I can't imagine that the special effects people at the set of ‘Rumpelstiltskin' even convinced themselves that they were doing a decent job.

This movie is not suitable for viewing for anybody what so ever - man or freak.

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.

In ancient times, Rumpelstiltskin was a strange creature of folklore who's MO was stealing the babies of hapless women and attempting to sacrifice them for eternal life or mystical powers. Now in modern day Los Angeles, the widow of one of the least competent cops in town accidently reawakens this child-snatching evil and sends it forth after her and her child! Will she be able to work together with a greasy game show host to stop this diminutive and demented monster? Actually, who cares?

This movie was designed to be a cash-in on the horror comedy craze started by Warwick Davis' Leprechaun, which is in and of itself a MASSIVE red flag in terms of its quality. Thankfully for the most part the movie depends on its cinematic cheese to keep things ticking along for most of its runtime, though sadly it runs out of ideas by the one hour mark. Thus its torn between speeding the plot along to get to a ending... and padding the holy bejeezus out of its final chase scene, using the same goofy shots of the same goofy goblin riding the same goofy truck an insane number of times. While Rumplestiltskin makes for a nice curio of a long-abandoned age of horror comedy, its just like the comedically cheap jade prop the titular goon is sealed in at the beginning... best left alone unless you're morbidly curious.

Everyone's favourite Passions star (IVY CRANE!!!!) lights up the screen in this horrifically bad schlock horror. (By 'schlock' I mean horror so bad that it isn't even funny!) Now I love bad horror...But this was beyond the joke.

A woman, whose police-officer husband has just been shot to death in a car jacking, buys a strange relic in an antique store. Despite the warnings of the badly-dressed witch running the store (who looks suspiciously like Stevie Nicks), she buys the lump of stone that looks like it belongs in the bowl of a public toilet.

While she cries at home and wishes to have her husband back just one last time, her tear hits the 'turd rock' and her prayers are answered. Her husband returns and they go at it like rabbits in 7 seconds of tacky, mild sex.

After waking, 'Ivy Crane' finds a strange dwarf in her shower with annoyingly squinty eyes and really bad dentures. He demands her first-born child and she refuses.

From here, the movie involves 'Ivy' running from the little gremlin and causing the deaths of friends and by-standers along the way.

The horror is bland. The supporting cast are probably now in rehab. The one-liners are cornier than creamed corn smeared on a cob of the vegetable of the same name.

I now realise why this movie looks so 80s, despite being released in 1996. It was so bad that every major studio turned it down over a period of 16 years. AVOID!

This knockoff of LEPRECHAUN is slow-moving, considering the flick spends most of its time with people speeding along highways and back roads, and it becomes all too obvious the filmmakers were working with no budget. Good old Uncle Rump is imprisoned in a jade carving in the 1400s and is accidentally freed in 1995 by a young widow with an infant. All the little goblin wants is the baby. Mom understandably stands between him and her baby. Rump slays a few people along the way, cackles a lot, and that's about it. The goblin is clearly pattered on the Leprechaun, and admittedly is occasionally amusing. The young mom on the run reminded me a little of the legendary Betsy Russell of 1980s and 1990s horror films, but without the acting ability. This may be safely skipped.

Rumpelstiltskin

The argument for and against removing a boy's rumpelstiltskin is a gross one that should not be depicted in a movie.

Fortunately, the rumpelstiltskin in this horror is a goblin that steals children, not the removal of access epidermis.

Centuries ago, a demonic creature christened Rumpelstiltskin was forever encased inside of a bauble.

Nowadays, Rumpelstiltskin's ornate prison finds itself on a dusty shelf of a store dedicated to the occult.

One day, mom Shelley (Kim Johnston Ulrich) happens upon the curio shop and enters. Captivated by the object, she purchases it and takes it home.

But when the creepy tchotchke is accidentally trashed, Rumpelstiltskin escapes and carries on his baby-napping ways, starting with Shelley's newborn.

Inspired by the Grimm fairy tale, this low-budget parable's attempt at terror only results in laughable performances and a weak plot.

Besides, if he's so into baby-napping, why doesn't Rumpelstiltskin just become an au pair? (Red Light)

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Rumpelstiltskin is excellent for what it is, and that is a wonderful, cheesy horror movie. If you are a fan of the Leprechaun series, you will most assuredly like this. It has a great mixture of funny dialog and violent humor, and, unlike most films, the bad guy is obviously the only star. This is done by contrasting the boorish, uninteresting people of the film with our colorful, funny anti-hero. Of course, who watches a film like this for dialog or characters? We want to see the bad guy on the screen, doing what he does best. And Rumpelstiltskin does this this quickly, not wasting a lot of time developing other characters, whom we could care less about. However, the characters are certainly not underdeveloped either. You'll just have to see this film for yourself.

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.

No doubt, this is the worst horror movie that I have ever seen in my life.

The visual effects, story, actors... everything, are so bad that I had to push the "stop" button in my video player before the film ends.

Don´t rent it, you will lose your money.