Rumpelstiltskin is a 1995 American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Mark Jones and starring Max Grodénchik as the title character.[2][3]
Rumpelstiltskin | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mark Jones |
Written by | Mark Jones Joe Ruby |
Produced by | Joe Ruby Ken Spears |
Starring | Kim Johnston Ulrich Tommy Blaze Allyce Beasley Max Grodénchik |
Cinematography | Douglas Milsome |
Edited by | Christopher Holmes |
Music by | Charles Bernstein |
Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3 million |
Box office | $306,494 |
In the 15th century, Rumpelstiltskin is imprisoned inside a small jade figurine. In modern-day Los Angeles, the recently widowed wife of a police officer, with baby in tow, finds her way into a witch's shop and purchases a certain figurine, resulting in the cackling beast being freed and demanding possession of the baby.
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 fro Leprechaun 2 while opting to do Rumpelstiltskin.[4]
Rumpelstiltskin was not a success at the box office, it made only $306,494, with its widest release being 54 theaters.[1] The film was released on DVD on August 21, 2001, by Republic Pictures.[5] The film was released on DVD on January 10, 2004, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
AllMovie wrote, "this groan-inducing would-be camp [...] boasts some good makeup by Kevin Yagher but is still easily the worst of the '90s crop of fairy-tale horrors."[6] JoBlo.com'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."[7]
Most reviews by the general public are polarized, both citing the film's absurdity as the deciding factor in their opinion.[8] Fans of the movie would say that Rumpelstiltskin is a prime example of the "movies so bad that they're actually good" genre.