I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Years back, this movie appeared on MST3K. And, like usual, it was comedic gold. Truth be told, on it's own, the film is atrocious! On a typical dark and stormy night, a grandfather (Ernest Borgnine, the only real talent) and his grandson are stuck at home with the power off. So dear old gramps chooses to tell the kid a story he worked on years ago for television. Merlin, the mythical wizard, has come to our times to set up a shop of enchanted stuff. It's at this point that things get really, REALLY weird! Story 1: Madeline has a problem. She's wants to have a baby, but can't. Her husband, Jonathan, is a self-centered jerk who reviews stores for the newspaper. They happen upon Merlin's Shop. And finally after Jonathan torments Merlin and his wife long enough, they give him an ancient book of spells to take home. Back at home, Jonathan decides to try out the some of the incantations. Know what happens? Yup, he comes to believe in magic. Oh, and he breathes fire. And he transforms his cat into a bloodthirsty monster. And even Satan show up in a cameo. The ending is just wrong in so many ways, I won't even bother mentioning it.Story 2: A thief breaks into Merlin's shop one night and escapes with an evil toy monkey. The freaky-looking one with the cymbals. Merlin sets out, trying to find the toy before it falls into the wrong hands. Meanwhile, young Michael is having a birthday party. Guess what he's getting for a present! Yup, the toy monkey. But before you can say possessed toy, household plants and pets are turning up dead. Suspiciously, right after the monkey chimes its cymbals. David, Michael's father, tries to get rid of the toy. But it keeps coming back. Again. And again... And again! The main problem with this film is that it's marketed as a family-oriented kids movie. But it's not. It's dark, and it's scary, and filled with pets dying horribly, demons and evil things. Without any redeeming qualities to it. It's an oddity, I'll give it that. But only watch it if the MST3K guys are riffing on it.

I hope nobody ever makes a film at this level again. Worst film I've EVER seen. So many goofs that are totally obvious, terrible acting that lacked any enthusiasm whatsoever, badly written script, lame plot line, FAR from perfect cast, and no visible effort whatsoever. I really, really, really wish there was a 0/10, because that's what I'd rate it. I watched this with my 11 year old brother and he was literally rolling on the floor, laughing until tears came out of his eyes at the stupidity of the possessed monkey. I mean, come ON! A wizard walks around in the modern world with a drawing looking for a demonic toy monkey that clangs a tiny pair of cymbals to kill somebody? Don't make me laugh...

When you see a blonde woman threaten an old coot dressed up as Merlin, with Mace, you know you're in for a treat of a movie. Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders is one of the most muddled up, confused, poorly stitched together films you could ever have the misfortune to come across. It opens with a young boy watching TV. His grandfather then begins to tell him some stories about Merlin, the Great Magician, who has opened up a spell shop in the modern times. Selling potions, spell books, snakes, spiders, cauldrons and other wacky products, it's no surprise that an enraged reviewer decides to threaten Merlin by promising to give an awful review in the local paper about the shop. He then takes one of Merlin's spell books home and begins to dabble in the dark arts, only managing to turn his cat into a vicious beast. The cat then begins to violently attack it's owner, which results in the man setting the cat alight, and letting it die in a burst of flames. So far so good for a children's movie? No. So far so good for a horror film? No. Okay then... well, so far so good? No! The pain then continues when the man continues to practise spells, but only ends up turning himself a hundred years older, then turning himself back in time, to a young baby. And there, we have the end of the first strange story. Nothing very entertaining to get out of it. It's to harsh and bloody for young viewers, yet to unrealistic, unappealing and tame for any older viewer. The acting so far stinks like rotting fish, and the plot is a muddled as you can get. Then onto the second story, about a birthday present bought for a kid; a procession monkey doll, which claps cymbals and chatters it's teeth. However whenever it does this, something bad happens (starting with a goldfish, then the cat, then the near miss with the human) This episode is a fun premise, but is done slowly and painfully, with no real suspense or excitement to hold you down and reel you in. It's just to boring and slow and plain for anyone over ten years watching, and to creepy and a slight bit unsettling for very young, young children. So what audience category does this fit into? Who will enjoy it? Who is it aimed at? The answer is; no-one. And no-one should feel the need to torture themselves by trying to sit through this bland, sordid mess.

I give this rating to the Mystery Science Theater 3000, forthwith known as the MST3K version. MST3K can make almost any horrible movie a laughing riot, and "Merlin's Hop" is no exception. If you do not know of MST3K, now you do, and I highly recommend you go check it out, especially if your the kind of person who likes to sit around with your friends and make fun of horrible movies. Basically, a guy and his two friends watch horrible movies like Merlin's Shop and critique it in every comedic way a horrible B-movie deserves to be critiqued. By itself, this movie is not worth watching, unless you wanna sit around with your friends and make fun of it yourself. But in the MST3K format, the "making-fun" is already done for you, and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy. Enjoy!