'Creepy' truth behind disturbing Rumpelstiltskin video that's giving people nightmares

People have been left scratching their heads after learning about the true origin of a viral video that's doing the rounds online.

The video appears to be from the 1987 movie Rumpelstiltskin. The synopsis for the family film reads (as per IMDb): "A musical version of the classic story about a miller's daughter who receives help from a mischievous dwarf, then ends up over her head. Now, she and a mute servant girl may be the only hope for her baby son, John."

The cast in the original movie includes Amy Irving, Billy Barty, Clive Revill, and Priscilla Pointer.

Now an usual clip that some people thought was from the movie has been shared on social media and gone viral.

The 30-second-long video shows a blonde-haired woman in a stable surrounded by hay, with a gnome-like character (thought to be Rumpelstiltskin) then approaching her as she screams out.

The gnome then does a weird dance around her, before turning all the hay in the room into gold coins, making the woman happy. Next thing you know she kisses him and the gnome turns into a handsome prince.

Alrighty then...

A lot of people have been lead to believe that the unusual clip is from Rumpelstiltskin, but it turns out that isn't the case at all – and it's TV blogger named Kevin Smith, who goes by the handle @moviemanmanman on Instagram, that has seemingly cracked the case.

Discussing the 'incredibly unsettling and kinda creepy' video, Smith shared his theory that it is '1000% generative AI'.

He said in a video posted to his page on October 5: "I feel like the clip is throwing everyone for a loop because it looks like, it genuinely does look like an old time, '60s, '50s film, but this is 1000% generative AI. Like, it's AI."

Smith went on: "I have been combing the stratospheres of the internet trying to figure out if this is from a real movie. It's not."

In the wake of Smith's revelations, a lot of people have been questioning why on earth somebody would want to make such a strange clip using AI.

One person wrote on Twitter: "The scariest part is how many people will assume it's from an old film. 'Looks real' is no longer evidence of anything."

"How do you even prompt this," questioned a second.

Echoing simialr sentiments, another person said: "My biggest question is, what was even the prompt? Make a little boy Rumplestiltskin, and have him creepily caress the blonde woman's face. Have him do a jig while his face never changes, and then he makes the woman happy by bringing her gold. Oh, and have her kiss the creepy boy on the lips, but it's ok because he'll turn into a man."

The internet is a strange place sometimes.