BA_Harrison
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).
Seagalogist
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!
barbaricstruggle
I just saw this film for the first time tonight, 9 years after it was made. I was pleasantly surprised, as I was not expecting it to be this good. The Rumpelstiltskin character looked great, and the plot line kept my interest throughout. The makeup was great, and it the minimal use of special effects made this movie much less outrageous than it could have been. It was almost over-the-top, but stopped just in time. It was not very true to the old fairy tale, but took a modern twist on it. Rumplestiltskin was re-awakened 500 years later in the 1990's, and needs a first-born son to steal its soul and set him free. I totally did not expect him to be driving a motorcycle or a semi-truck, but it happens, and it worked. There is a long chase scene where he is driving an oil tanker and spouting out humorous one-liners, until he wrecks it. The only way to kill him is to burn him with fire and straw, but before the protagonists discover this, he kicks some ass and takes a few wicked beatings. This film was hilarious, creepy, and a thoroughly enjoyable take on a classic fairy tale from our youth. I give it a 9 for originality and entertainment value.
Jon Mowjoudi (SweetLikeTropicana)
********SPOILERS AHEAD******************
Okay, where to start? the laughable opening scene, where a rubber Rumple burns on the floor? Removing a human eye that can still move? or perhaps the pathetic title appearing on screen? theres several scenes that made me cry with laughter. one such incident is where a little dwarf, Rumpy, is hanging on a window ledge then miraculously floats down onto a car window about 100 yards from where he was. any time something irregular happens such as this, it's accredited to "magic". Similarly, Rumple can shoot an empty gun, also "magic". some of the dialogue is great. i found myself reciting some of the lines for weeks after, which are still memorable to this day. But at the end of the day, after booking it out on a whim i can safely say that i would recommend it to anyone. in a similar vein to "Jeepers Creepers" the "Creature" is unlikely to scare anyone other than a fawn. i have re-hired it several times, and, believe me, there's nothing quite like the "Rumple" experience.
AD
