Rumpelstiltskin (2025): A Grimy, Retro Fairy Tale from the VHS Crypt

"A cursed bargain, a demonic imp, and a film that feels like it time-traveled from 1999." — 3/5 Stars

Andy Edwards’ Rumpelstiltskin (2025) resurrects the Brothers Grimm classic not with new polish, but with a CRT feel, muddy grays, and a 4:3 aspect ratio that screams late-night Sci-Fi Channel rerun. Clocking in at a lean 87 minutes, this UK-certified 18 horror-fantasy feels less like a modern release and more like a lost artifact from the golden age of B-movie fairy-tales on the Sci-Fi channel, terror—complete with demonic pacts, period costumes, and a devilish imp who’s far more unsettling than his poster suggests.

The story remains largely faithful: a miller’s daughter (Hannah Baxter-Eve) promises the king she can spin straw into gold. With the help of a sinister, otherworldly imp (Adrian Bouchet), she succeeds—but at a terrible cost. When the king demands more, she pledges her firstborn. Years later, as the debt comes due, the imp returns, now revealed as a servant of darker forces. What follows is a grim, gothic retelling that honors the original while weaving in original flourishes—including a third act not found in any traditional version, yet one that fits the film’s bleak tone surprisingly well.

Strong Craft, Smothered by Style

Let’s be clear: the costume design and makeup in Rumpelstiltskin are genuinely impressive—especially given the film’s likely modest budget. The imp’s prosthetics are detailed and expressive, and the period garments feel authentic, layered, and thoughtfully aged. You can tell real care went into building this world.

And yet, all that craftsmanship is undercut by the film’s relentless visual treatment. Every frame is drowned in a heavy, desaturated gray filter that drains contrast, mutes texture, and renders even well-lit scenes oppressively murky. Daylight looks like twilight; rich fabrics appear flat and lifeless. It’s a shame—because beneath that muddy veneer, there’s clear artistry struggling to breathe. The aesthetic may evoke ’90s cable horror, but it does so at the expense of the very details that make the production design shine.

Faithful, Yet Frustrating

For fairy-tale purists, the film’s adherence to the core myth is a strength. The climactic “name guessing” sequence—central to the original—is handled with reasonable accuracy, though it lands with a thud rather than a bang. The resolution feels rushed, almost perfunctory, robbing the moment of its folkloric weight. Still, the performances are earnest, with Baxter-Eve bringing vulnerability to her role and Bouchet relishing his impish menace with theatrical glee.

The real miss in my opinion? The UK 18 (R) rating. Earned mostly through brief nudity and profanity (that frankly added very little), it locks out the very audience that might appreciate this twisted bedtime story: teens and older children. With minimal trims, this could’ve been a cult hit for young horror fans—think. Instead, it’s stranded in adult-horror limbo, not really scarey , way too tame for gorehounds , but as it sits too mature for the YA crowd.

For fans of analog horror, fairy-tales, and B-movie charm, Rumpelstiltskin is a niche curio —even if flawed. Just don’t expect it to spin straw into cinematic gold.

In an era of billion-dollar blockbusters, there’s something quietly rebellious about a film that looks like it cost less than a used car and dares to tell a centuries-old story . Rumpelstiltskin won’t haunt your dreams, but it might linger in your memory like a half-remembered VHS you found in your attic—dusty, strange, and oddly compelling.

Comrade Courant Culture Critic