Rumpelstiltskin

Rating:
Summary: More Laughs Than Horror
Review: "Rumpelstiltskin" stands proudly as a representative example of a recent trend to scrape the bottom of the barrel in order to come up with something new in the horror genre. O.K., so it isn't that new, as the similarly themed "Leprechaun" appeared on the scene some three years before the arrival of this movie, but "Rumpelstiltskin" picks up the challenge laid down by Warwick Davis and gang and attempts to push the envelope even further. Instead of asking the diminutive Davis of "Leprechaun" fame to pull double duty here, the producers of "Rumpelstiltskin" employed some guy named Max Grodenchik to play the scary little man of fairy tale legend. He does an adequate job, too, although that's one of the few good things one can say about this picture. Ultimately, "Rumpelstiltskin" fails to win many compliments because it fails on too many levels. In fact, the main thing a viewer will probably come away with after watching this film is a question: What in the heck is Allyce Beasley doing in a film like this? That's right, that loveable waif who played the over talkative and slightly neurotic secretary Agnes DiPesto on the Cybill Shepherd/Bruce Willis sitcom "Moonlighting" appears in her full glory throughout the first half of "Rumpelstiltskin." Her presence here underscores how far people can fall in Hollywood.

The opening sequence of the film sets the stage for the Rumpelstiltskin legend. Somewhere in fourteenth century Europe, a group of villagers carrying the stereotypical torches chase good old Rump through a forest in search of the missing child of the local miller's daughter. Well, the evil little man has the baby because the child's mother promised to give up her first-born child in exchange for Rump's services. You know the rest of the legend. As the villagers chase Rumpelstiltskin to the edge of a cliff, he demands to have the child as per the arrangement. To accentuate his seriousness, he tears out some guy's eye and eats it, then throws him off a cliff. The village witch, fed up with this sickening behavior, casts a spell on the dwarf that turns him into a strange looking rock. Casting this stone into the ocean, and presumably to a place where it can do no more harm to anyone, the villagers rescue the baby and return to their pitiful lives slaving away for the lord of the manor. Obviously, since all of this happens within the first five minutes of the movie we know that some poor soul will find the rock and unleash the wicked genie within. This opening segue to the real meat of the film had me rolling on the floor with its corny dialogue, cheesy effects, and over the top performances. Too bad the rest of the film isn't nearly as funny.

The movie jumps ahead roughly 500 years, to present day Los Angeles, California. The recently widowed wife of a police officer, Shelley Stewart, conveniently discovers this rock at some weird witch's store. Attracted to the stone by a strange green light, she takes the object home and through a series of highly improbable circumstances promptly unleashes Rumpelstiltskin. What follows is often a plodding series of events wherein the evil dwarf attempts to secure the widow's child in exchange for services rendered (in this case, our heroine wished for her dead husband to return from the grave, which he did for one evening). Throw in the aforementioned Allyce Beasley as Shelley's man starved best friend named Hildy, an obnoxious local talk show host called Max Bergman who eventually takes part in the plot to eradicate Rumpelstiltskin, and you have the fundamentals of this bizarre film. Oddly enough, several scenes in the movie reminded me of the "Terminator" franchise, specifically a lengthy (way too lengthy) chase sequence with Rump driving a semi truck and a series of murders in a rural police station. The whole thing wraps up very predictably for this type of film. Too my knowledge, the producers of "Rumpelstiltskin" wisely passed on a sequel.

A few good things appear in this film. The actress who plays Shelley Stewart, Kim Johnston Ulrich, does a good job with the lackluster script. The same goes for Allyce Beasley, who easily slums her way through the Hildy role. Tommy Blaze as Max Bergman quickly becomes tiresome with his endless stream of babble and smart alecky lines. Grodenchik as Rumpelstiltskin irritates with his dialogue, too, but at least the make up job inspires some grotesque interest in his character. Personally, my favorite scene in the film involved actor Jay Pickett as Stewart's police officer husband. He isn't around long, but the slow motion shoot out with a street thug that claims his life is hilarious. Overall, the performances in this film aren't as bad as they could be. As an added bonus, Rumpelstiltskin catches on fire on two separate occasions. Lamentably, the negatives often overshadow the positives: uneven pacing results in a chase scene that runs on long after its effectiveness wears off. The lame conclusion to the movie irritates, especially when Rumpelstiltskin calls on the "powers of darkness" or some such nonsense to help him destroy Stewart's baby. The powers of darkness? You gotta be kidding me! How generic and tiresome is that line in a horror movie? "Rumpelstiltskin" is definitely more of a miss than a hit.

The DVD version of the film, distributed by low budget loving Artisan Entertainment, does not provide much in the way of extras: you do get a trailer for the film and that's about it. As for the picture quality, it's acceptable but nothing you would write home to mother about. "Rumpelstiltskin," probably a film best reserved for die-hard fans of B movie horror, could provide a few laughs to a general audience looking for something slightly ridiculous.

Rating:
Summary: More Laughs Than Horror
Review: "Rumpelstiltskin" stands proudly as a representative example of a recent trend to scrape the bottom of the barrel in order to come up with something new in the horror genre. O.K., so it isn't that new, as the similarly themed "Leprechaun" appeared on the scene some three years before the arrival of this movie, but "Rumpelstiltskin" picks up the challenge laid down by Warwick Davis and gang and attempts to push the envelope even further. Instead of asking the diminutive Davis of "Leprechaun" fame to pull double duty here, the producers of "Rumpelstiltskin" employed some guy named Max Grodenchik to play the scary little man of fairy tale legend. He does an adequate job, too, although that's one of the few good things one can say about this picture. Ultimately, "Rumpelstiltskin" fails to win many compliments because it fails on too many levels. In fact, the main thing a viewer will probably come away with after watching this film is a question: What in the heck is Allyce Beasley doing in a film like this? That's right, that loveable waif who played the over talkative and slightly neurotic secretary Agnes DiPesto on the Cybill Shepherd/Bruce Willis sitcom "Moonlighting" appears in her full glory throughout the first half of "Rumpelstiltskin." Her presence here underscores how far people can fall in Hollywood.

The opening sequence of the film sets the stage for the Rumpelstiltskin legend. Somewhere in fourteenth century Europe, a group of villagers carrying the stereotypical torches chase good old Rump through a forest in search of the missing child of the local miller's daughter. Well, the evil little man has the baby because the child's mother promised to give up her first-born child in exchange for Rump's services. You know the rest of the legend. As the villagers chase Rumpelstiltskin to the edge of a cliff, he demands to have the child as per the arrangement. To accentuate his seriousness, he tears out some guy's eye and eats it, then throws him off a cliff. The village witch, fed up with this sickening behavior, casts a spell on the dwarf that turns him into a strange looking rock. Casting this stone into the ocean, and presumably to a place where it can do no more harm to anyone, the villagers rescue the baby and return to their pitiful lives slaving away for the lord of the manor. Obviously, since all of this happens within the first five minutes of the movie we know that some poor soul will find the rock and unleash the wicked genie within. This opening segue to the real meat of the film had me rolling on the floor with its corny dialogue, cheesy effects, and over the top performances. Too bad the rest of the film isn't nearly as funny.

The movie jumps ahead roughly 500 years, to present day Los Angeles, California. The recently widowed wife of a police officer, Shelley Stewart, conveniently discovers this rock at some weird witch's store. Attracted to the stone by a strange green light, she takes the object home and through a series of highly improbable circumstances promptly unleashes Rumpelstiltskin. What follows is often a plodding series of events wherein the evil dwarf attempts to secure the widow's child in exchange for services rendered (in this case, our heroine wished for her dead husband to return from the grave, which he did for one evening). Throw in the aforementioned Allyce Beasley as Shelley's man starved best friend named Hildy, an obnoxious local talk show host called Max Bergman who eventually takes part in the plot to eradicate Rumpelstiltskin, and you have the fundamentals of this bizarre film. Oddly enough, several scenes in the movie reminded me of the "Terminator" franchise, specifically a lengthy (way too lengthy) chase sequence with Rump driving a semi truck and a series of murders in a rural police station. The whole thing wraps up very predictably for this type of film. Too my knowledge, the producers of "Rumpelstiltskin" wisely passed on a sequel.

A few good things appear in this film. The actress who plays Shelley Stewart, Kim Johnston Ulrich, does a good job with the lackluster script. The same goes for Allyce Beasley, who easily slums her way through the Hildy role. Tommy Blaze as Max Bergman quickly becomes tiresome with his endless stream of babble and smart alecky lines. Grodenchik as Rumpelstiltskin irritates with his dialogue, too, but at least the make up job inspires some grotesque interest in his character. Personally, my favorite scene in the film involved actor Jay Pickett as Stewart's police officer husband. He isn't around long, but the slow motion shoot out with a street thug that claims his life is hilarious. Overall, the performances in this film aren't as bad as they could be. As an added bonus, Rumpelstiltskin catches on fire on two separate occasions. Lamentably, the negatives often overshadow the positives: uneven pacing results in a chase scene that runs on long after its effectiveness wears off. The lame conclusion to the movie irritates, especially when Rumpelstiltskin calls on the "powers of darkness" or some such nonsense to help him destroy Stewart's baby. The powers of darkness? You gotta be kidding me! How generic and tiresome is that line in a horror movie? "Rumpelstiltskin" is definitely more of a miss than a hit.

The DVD version of the film, distributed by low budget loving Artisan Entertainment, does not provide much in the way of extras: you do get a trailer for the film and that's about it. As for the picture quality, it's acceptable but nothing you would write home to mother about. "Rumpelstiltskin," probably a film best reserved for die-hard fans of B movie horror, could provide a few laughs to a general audience looking for something slightly ridiculous.

Rating:
Summary: The poisoned dwarf returns...
Review: An extremley funny (and gory) spin on a classic fairytale. The plot is pretty short and the characters are not all that brilliant but its a horror fantasy worth watching even for the humour of it all. It may sound like tosh, but hey, this ain't no fairytale!

Rating:
Summary: That was a new low in the genre of horror movies.
Review: Granted I have seen many bad movies, and especially horror movies for that matter. However, this movie in question, that is Rumpelstiltskin VHS ~ Max Grodénchik reaches a new low. Marred by bad acting, shoddy setting, embarasing lines and no plot. The idea was very good, but the effort is far from stellar, A pity really since the opening scene of the movie is quite good and is sort of like fals advertisment.

Rating:
Summary: Greatest movie of all time
Review: Greatest move ever, rumpel dominates all other movies. anyone who doesnt like it is either a. mentally retarded or B. blind and deaf(aka helen keller syndrome). the greatest movie and has the greatest soundtrack and effects. " Chaff? what the hell is chaff? Straw my dear, plain ol' ordinary Straw."one of the best quotes.

Rating:
Summary: Not Scary but fun!
Review: I recomend that you see this movie. Sure, it is not that scary but it is a nice movie.

Rating:
Summary: SCARY
Review: I remember watching this film as a little girl and to be honest it terrified me.

I now have been trying to find this film for sometime but forgot the title and well I obviously found it.

I think that this film is a GREAT horror film and will have everyone hat watches it scared as hell.

Rating:
Summary: theatrical or not?
Review: Im jw if anyone knows if this movie played in theatres or if it was straight to video. to my prior knowledge it is direct to video but a reviewer said they saw it in theatres. anybody know?

Rating:
Summary: VERY SCARY!!!
Review: This is a very scary and suspenseful movie that has you in a panic the entire way through! I would recomend it to anyone who wants a scare.

Rating:
Summary: Cheese pants
Review: This is the biggest load of cheese pants i have ever seen not scary at all. And how many trucks must rumple get hit by before he dies bloody tosh