Rumpelstiltskin (1995 Film)
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''Rumpelstiltskin'' is a 1995 American
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
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horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...
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comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
directed by Mark Jones and starring
Max Grodénchik Max Grodénchik (born November 12, 1952), also known as Michael Grodénchik, is an American stage, film, and television actor, best known for his role as Rom, a recurring character on the television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. Biogr ...
as the title character.


Plot

Somewhere in 15th century Europe, Rumpelstiltskin, a mystical, deformed hunchback, is pursued by a mob to a nearby cliffside after kidnapping the baby that a local village woman promised to him in exchange for spinning straw into gold. After several failed attacks from the mob, a gypsy witch transforms him into a small stone effigy to be imprisoned for a thousand years, released prematurely only under the stipulation that a heartfelt wish be made unto it involving a child. In present-day Los Angeles, police officer Russell Stewart is gunned down in the line of duty during a botched carjacking, widowing his pregnant wife Shelly in the process. Sometime later, a grieving Shelly, her newborn Johnny and best friend Hildy visit Matilda's Place, an antique witch's shop that now possesses the stone. Intrigued by its supposed ability to grant wishes, and against Matilda's advice, Shelly purchases the stone. At home, Shelly tearfully wishes her deceased husband could meet their son, fulfilling the parameters in freeing Rumpelstiltskin. Later that night she envisions being visited by Russell and the two make love. She awakens to find Russell's likeness replaced by Rumpelstiltskin, who eagerly demands Johnny as payment for her wish fulfillment. Shelly and Johnny narrowly escape, only to return the next day with baffled authorities. They stay with Hildy the following night and Shelly is regaled of the ancient Rumpelstiltskin fairytale involving a nefarious little man who spun straw into gold in exchange for a firstborn child, noting its similarities to her previous night's encounter. In the middle of the night Rumpelstiltskin appears, once again demanding Johnny. Hildy is killed while Shelly and Johnny flee by car. Rumpelstiltskin then murders a passing biker and steals his motorcycle, which he soon trades out for a tanker truck and continues pursuit as it leads into the mountainous outskirts of Bakersfield. After her car dies the following morning, Shelly flags down fellow motorist and chauvinistic "professional asshole" TV show host Max Bergman, who, in denial of her story, reluctantly chauffeurs them forward. A lengthy vehicular pursuit ensues through the winding terrain, terminating with Max duping Rumpelstiltskin with a dune buggy to drive off a hillside and into a standing tree below, igniting the tanker in a fiery explosion. Upon investigation of the crash by a local deputy, Rumpelstiltskin is revealed to be alive. He kills the officer as Shelly, Max and Johnny escape in the squad car. The three hide out in an abandoned diner while deciding what to do. Shelly realizes that Rumpelstiltskin came from the stone she purchased at Matilda's Place and that it was her own wish that brought him to life. Before she can contact Matilda, officers rush in, arrest them and haul them back to the precinct to be charged with the deputy's murder. With their sole phone call, Shelly reaches Matilda, who says she can help. Shortly after, Rumpelstiltskin infiltrates the station, kills several officers and kidnaps Johnny. Shelly and Max are released from their cell by a mortally wounded sheriff and commandeer a nearby car, which happens to contain Matilda. Matilda informs them that Rumpelstiltskin has no soul of his own and thus wants Johnny's to consume, which requires a graveyard ritual before sunrise. To stop him, Matilda says that fire and chaff (aka ordinary straw) in conjunction with an ancient chant spoken three times must be utilized. Viewing this interaction through a vision spell, Rumpelstiltskin telekinetically chokes Matilda to death before proceeding to the graveyard with Johnny in hand. Shelly and Max locate the nearest graveyard by map and attempt to stop the ritual in progress, but are thwarted by Rumpelstiltskin's magic. They retreat to a nearby barn containing straw and a front loader tractor. Shelly realizes the chant Matilda referred to is his name as is in the fairytale. Armed with all they need, Max drives the tractor with burning straw in its loader up the graveyard and after Rumpelstiltskin. The tractor momentarily stalls, but soon clears and captures Rumpelstiltskin in its blazing loader before running into a powerline and erupting into an electrical explosion. Shelly confronts the now severely injured Rumpelstiltskin and calls out his name three times, reincarcerating him back to his stone effigy form to presumably live out the remainder of his thousand-year sentence. Shelly finds Johnny in a nearby grave unharmed, while Max throws the figurine into a creek. The three leave together as Shelly agrees to a date with Max, who's now apparently "out of the asshole business." Three years later, a young girl finds the figurine and rushes to show her mother, who is revealed to have an infant in her arms.


Cast

*
Kim Johnston Ulrich Kim Johnston Ulrich is an American actress. Early life and education Ulrich was born Kim Charisse Johnston in Ripon, California. She earned an Associate of Arts degree in fashion merchandising from Modesto Junior College and a Bachelor of A ...
as Shelly Stewart *Tommy Blaze as Max Bergman *
Allyce Beasley Allyce Beasley ( Tannenberg; born July 6, 1951) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as rhyming, love-struck receptionist Agnes DiPesto in the television series '' Moonlighting''. From 2001 to 2007, she was the announcer on Pla ...
as Hildy *
Max Grodénchik Max Grodénchik (born November 12, 1952), also known as Michael Grodénchik, is an American stage, film, and television actor, best known for his role as Rom, a recurring character on the television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. Biogr ...
as
Rumpelstiltskin "Rumpelstiltskin" ( ; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of ''Children's and Household Tales''. The story is about an imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a woman's firstborn child. Plot I ...
*Vera Lockwood as Matilda *
Jay Pickett Jay Harris Pickett (February 10, 1961 – July 30, 2021) was an American actor. Early life and education Pickett was born in Spokane, Washington, and grew up in Caldwell, Idaho. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in acting at Boise State U ...
as Russell Stewart *
Sherman Augustus Sherman Augustus (born January 10, 1959) is an American actor, martial artist and former National Football League, NFL player. He is best known for his roles as Nathaniel Moon in the AMC (TV channel), AMC series ''Into the Badlands (TV series), ...
as John McCabe *Valerie Wildman as Nedda * Jack McGee as Detective Ben Smith *
Mark Holton Mark Douglas Holton (born April 2, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Francis Buxton in '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure'' (1985), Chubby in the '' Teen Wolf'' film series, Ozzie Jones in '' Leprechaun'' and Leprechaun Retur ...
as Huge Man *
Elmarie Wendel Elmarie Louise Wendel (November 23, 1928 –July 21, 2018) was an American actress and singer best known as Mamie Dubcek on the NBC sitcom ''3rd Rock from the Sun''. Early life Born on a farm in Howard County, Iowa, one of five siblings, Wend ...
as Gypsy Woman


Production

Mark Jones and producer Michael Prescott had initially been involved in pre-production on Leprechaun 2, but when ''Rumpelstiltskin'' was greenlit the two took producer credits for ''Leprechaun 2'' while opting to do ''Rumpelstiltskin''.


Release

''Rumpelstiltskin'' was not a success at the box office, it made only $306,494, with its widest release being 54 theaters. The film was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on August 21, 2001, by
Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...
. The film was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on January 10, 2004, by
Lionsgate Home Entertainment Lionsgate Studios Corp. (simply known as Lionsgate Studios) is a Canadian-American film and television production and distribution conglomerate, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, and primarily based in Santa Monica, California. It was f ...


Critical response

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...
wrote, "this groan-inducing would-be
camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...
..boasts some good makeup by Kevin Yagher but is still easily the worst of the '90s crop of fairy-tale horrors."
JoBlo.com JoBlo.com is an anchor website of the JoBlo Movie Network focused on news, film reviews, and film trailers. The network has YouTube channels that focus on trailers, movie clips, celebrity interviews, original content, and film distribution. H ...
's Arrow in the Head reviewed the movie in 2019, stating that "Listen, ''RUMPELSTILTSKIN'' is no award-winner, we all understand that. However, the movie is much better than the 10% box-office return it suffered on its already modest budget. It’s fast, fun, funny, gory, and knowingly pokes fun of itself as nothing more than a dark farcical fairytale." Most reviews by the general public are polarized, both citing the film's absurdity as the deciding factor in their opinion. Fans of the movie would say that ''Rumpelstiltskin'' is a prime example of the "movies so bad that they're actually good" genre.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rumpelstiltskin (1995 Film) 1995 films 1995 comedy horror films 1995 fantasy films American supernatural horror films Films scored by Charles Bernstein Films set in the 15th century Films set in Los Angeles Films based on Rumpelstiltskin 1990s English-language films Films directed by Mark Jones 1990s American films Horror films based on children's franchises Films about widowhood in the United States English-language comedy horror films English-language fantasy films