Gremlins Reviews

Dante and Spielberg, irresisitble pair. Dante has an eye (as a minor Burton) on grotesque humour with tender reductions (as the gremlin made juice)...

Even though I had already seen this movie quite often when I was a kid, I was still eager to check it out again and, somehow, I ended up watching it with my little brother who was visiting at the time which was pretty neat. Eventually, after all these years, I still think it is a really nice movie. What I find most impressive about it is that it is one of the very few decent horror movies that they managed to make for the kids. Indeed, even though it is quite fun, there are also some scary elements but those elements are not so frightening that the whole thing would become unwatchable for the younger audience. So, if you are about 12 years old, which is the perfect age to watch this, you will be never sure if you should laugh or be scared and, therefore, this movie managed to reach a really subtle balance. Unfortunately, all the human characters were terribly bland and boring preventing this movie to become really amazing and the soundtrack didn't grow old very well either, I'm afraid. Still, it is rather surprising that they didn't remake this movie yet but it will probably happen at some point with some massive amount of CGI which might be an improvement or maybe a total disaster. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it is a childhood classic of mine, I really liked the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

A film like Gremlins doesn't call for a review, so much as it demands a detailed discussion. This isn't because the film is particularly complicated, nor does it imply that there are loose ends to theorize about. It is simply because Gremlins can be interpreted in a number of different ways. Is it a dark family film? Or a cheesy horror flick? Is the film a cliched product of the 80's? Or perhaps a smart satire that was years ahead of its time? For me, it is all of these things. It's a joyous romp that's hilariously silly - so much so that the absence of truly serious moments can be completely forgiven.

The plot is simple; a young man receives a strange present from his dad: a mysterious creature called a Gremlin! There are 3 rules that must be obeyed to insure that nothing goes wrong. One, the Gremlin must stay away from sunlight, or it will die. Two, the Gremlin must not get wet. And most importantly, the Gremlin must not be fed after midnight.

Care to guess how many of these rules get broken before the film ends?

Gremlins is a rare kind of a film, in that it has actually improved with age. The characters are laughably stupid, there's an abundance of product placement, and the Gremlins - even in their "cute" stage - are (perhaps) unintentionally creepy. These are legitimate problems, and yet, they actually manage to enhance the film. I think the over-the-top silliness of the film is to thank for this, as this allows for an environment in which unintentional laughter is not detrimental to the movie experience. This bizarre blend of self-aware comedy and unintentional humor has resulted in a film that will only continue to get better as the years pass.

Admittedly, one could argue that Gremlins is a bit of an awkward film to watch, in that the the intentional and unintentional comedy is often indistinguishable from the other. One scene that effectively hones in on this issue is the famous monologue, in which one character recalls a tragic memory from her childhood. Supposedly, this scene caused a stir among studio executives, whom requested that the scene be removed as it was uncertain whether this was supposed to be sad or funny (if you care for my two cents, I laughed myself nearly to tears at this part).

This could definitely be an issue for some. Is a film that contains so much unintentional humor and laughable flaws worthy of a recommendation? My answer is an unequivocal "yes." The film thrives on cliches of the past. Now that what was modern in the 80's is also a tired cliche in the 21st century, Gremlins has become an intentional parody of itself. It's the tone that the film was always aiming for, and has managed to re-achieve that goal decades later.

Another fascinating aspect of this film is the violence. Gremlins received a PG rating from the MPAA, and the criticism thrust at both this film, and the MPAA due to the violent images resulted in the birth of the PG-13 rating. Yes, as expected, Gremlins die (albeit, in highly creative and massively unexpected ways), but several humans perish as well. If one considers this film to be a horror movie, than this isn't unusual at all. But if one thinks of this as a family picture, than this is very unusual indeed. Once again, I reiterate: this kind of movie simply demands discussion!

The acting is terribly hammy, but in spite of - or rather, because of - this, the performances are delightful. Zach Gilligan is the lead actor, and Phoebe Cates portrays the love interest. Both characters are dull as dirt in terms of personality, but their moronic inclinations make them highly entertaining to watch all the same. The other actors tend to fall in the same territory.

Jerry Goldsmith composed an appropriately maniacal score for this picture. It contains his signature synthesizers (adding to the film's dated feel even further), and ties in Christmas tunes to reflect the holiday setting. In terms of music, there are no questions here: the tongue is absolutely in the cheek.

There is roughly 45 minutes of build-up, followed by nearly an hour of Gremlins mayhem. Thanks to the camp nature of the film, the 45 minute build-up is no less entertaining than the Gremlin destruction later on. The last hour is almost non-stop craziness, and needless to say, it becomes exhausting. But it's the best kind of exhausting; the kind that comes with knowing that you're having an absolute blast. Indeed, the amount of fun here is almost overwhelming at times. It's tempting to spend the entire run-time of the movie trying to analyze its intentions, but the best route is to save this kind of thinking for afterwards. It honestly doesn't matter much in the long run whether you think Gremlins is a dumb movie for smart people, or a smart movie for dumb people. Just let it be known that Gremlins is good, dark fun for everyone!

"If your air conditioner goes on the fritz or your washing machine blows up or your video recorder conks out; before you call the repairman turn on all the lights, check all the closets and cupboards, look under all the beds, 'cause you never can tell there just might be a gremlin in your house."

A Yuletide-themed horror-comedy, Gremlins continues to endure as an eminently popular holiday mainstay, and it's easy to see why. In 1984, Steven Spielberg was primarily associated with three things: Jaws, E.T. and tremendous box office receipts. Executive produced by Spielberg, Gremlins is fundamentally a merger of all three, and it was one of the first movies to be made by Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment production company. It was released on the same weekend as the original Ghostbusters, and fast developed into somewhat of a phenomenon during its theatrical run. A kids Christmas film which pushed the envelope of what was allowed within the confines of PG-rated family entertainment, it became a hit, grossing in excess of $140 million at the American box office. Gremlins is not perfect, but it's entertaining B-grade fun which has stood the test of time.

In Chinatown, ambitious but incompetent inventor Randall Peltzer (Axton) buys a cute, furry little creature known as a "mogwai" as a Christmas present for his son, Billy (Galligan). Randall is given strict instructions relating to the creature, which he imparts onto Billy: do not give it any water, do not expose it to sunlight, and absolutely do not feed it after midnight. Affectionately calling the mogwai Gizmo, Billy is at first overjoyed by his new pet, but the all-important rules are soon broken. Before long, more mogwai are spawned and they are accidentally fed after midnight, transforming them into dangerous green creatures determined to wreak havoc. On Christmas Eve, the town becomes overrun with nasty gremlins, and it's up to Billy, his girlfriend Kate (Cates) and Gizmo to find a solution.

Gremlins was written by Chris Columbus, and it was actually his very first script to be produced. In the years since, Columbus became a big-time director, with films like Home Alone and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to his credit. Surprisingly, the first act of Gremlins feels somewhat like a Charles Dickens story. We're introduced to Billy's gruff old neighbour Mr. Futterman (the legendary Dick Miller) who hates everything foreign and drives a tractor. On top of this, there's an evil, rich old lady who delights in evicting families and generally acts like Ebenezer Scrooge. The set-up begs for a Christmas miracle, but we get something else entirely. It's a sly subversion of the typical feel-good formula, with director Joe Dante plunging the story into the realm of dark comedy and horror.

The biggest fault of Gremlins is one of tone. Dante attempted to mix humour and horror, but he's only moderately successful. Too often, the two tonal extremes cancel each other out - the film isn't scary enough due to the humorous touches, and the comedy is only sporadically effective because the violence and gore is too vivid. Certainly, Gremlins is fun throughout, but numerous moments are too uncomfortably mean-spirited. To the credit of Dante, though, when the film works, it really does work. The fact that he doesn't treat the material as an outright parody is commendable, and the film actually contains a handful of effective dramatic scenes. In one scene, for instance, Kate is drawn into telling Billy a tragic story of what happened one Christmas when she was a little girl. It was a ballsy move to include pathos but it works, thanks in large part to Phoebe Cates' well-judged performance. Meanwhile, Zach Galligan is charming as Billy, and he carries out leading man responsibilities with utmost confidence. Gremlins also features Judge Reinhold in a blink-and-you'll-miss-him cameo role, and a young Corey Feldman playing Billy's young friend Pete.

As perhaps to be expected, Gremlins is a pretty dumb movie. You will have to accept the fact that, while the gremlins are rampaging, nobody grabs a gun or a baseball bat until the closing minutes of the film. Moreover, the mythology behind the mogwai is half-baked, leaving numerous questions unanswered. For example, the mogwai cannot be fed after midnight or else they turn into vicious gremlins, but from midnight until when? Plus, what is it about light, water and food that affects these things? And why don't the gremlins take full advantage of the situation and crazily reproduce to the point that they could take over the entire world?

Executive producer Spielberg's fingerprints are all over the film. By this stage in his career, he had the power to get ample funding for his projects, hence Gremlins was produced for a decent sum. As a result, it contains a number of still-impressive special effects. The gremlins benefit from creative design and competent cinematic techniques which bring them to life, courtesy of effects technician Chris Walas (The Fly) and his talented crew. Gremlins contains several stand-out scenes which nail the intended tone of campy lunacy, including a bar sequence featuring gremlins lampooning typical human behavioural traits: they imitate drunkards, card players, muggers and dancers. It's glorious stuff. Plus, the main theme by Jerry Goldsmith is one of the most memorable pieces of music from the era.

In final analysis, it's hard to dislike Gremlins. It has a flawed script at its foundation and it's too dark at times, but the film remains a frequently enjoyable alternative holiday film, especially when Dante revels in the campy possibilities of the premise.

6.7/10

Gremlins. Throw water on them, they give birth to new ones. Throw them into the sunlight, they die. Feed them after midnight, they turn into homicidal maniacs. Who the hell would want this as a pet? Apparently everyone, since this film was a box-office hit back in the day. There are hundreds of monster movies out there, and especially in the 80s these were pretty darn popular. Gremlins however stands separate from the rest with one clever trick; it takes apart cliches. Primarily those revolving around american suburbia and best of all, christmas. American movies especially seem to have problems when it comes to making christmas into a violent or offensive event, and Gremlins achieves just that through various methods. The best out of them is that it takes these wonderful cliched christmas setpieces and puts monsters into them, tearing them to pieces. It's fun to watch when the monsters destroy decorated trees and idyllic suburbian housing. All the characters are caricatyres from other comedies, and seeing them pitted against serious situations like a monster attack is also fun. There is one scene though where this whole thing goes too over-the-top if you ask me. I mean even though it's occasionally mean-spirited, Gremlins still mostly maintains this pretty fun and sweet athmosphere, but in one scene one of the characters talks of her traumas regarding a previous christmas, and it goes to the extent where it isn't funny to be heard, atleast not in a movie like this. Otherwise the humour in Gremlins rarely fails, delivering pretty steady laughs throughout. The writing is solid most of the time, but I've always wondered about one thing; One of the rules is "Never feed them after midnight." That's an odd rule. How is this determined? Is it midnight eastern standard time? When does the midnight end? At 6am? What if you're on a plane, and cross into a different timezone and then feed them when it'd be midnight in the timezone you just came from? What decides when you can't feed them? This is nitpicking though, I won't hold it against the movie, that rule just always made me wonder about it. Now, even though I'm meant to be reviewing the first part, I will say this about the sequel; the writing is where it went wrong. It was a collection of loose jokes revolving around the monsters, instead of circling a certain theme, like christmas or whatnot. It was just a monster movie in a skyscraper, nothing more and nothing less. The New Batch is still entertaining in it's own right, but I think that this is where it went completely wrong.

If the first thing that Gremlins excells at is the writing, then the second thing is definately the puppetry. All the animatronics, costumes and rubber dolls in here as the monsters is technically wonderful. Especially for someone like myself who adores old-fashioned puppetry this movie is a treat to the sore eyes. The facial expressions, the detailed textures; these monsters have it all. Sure, they all look alike except for the leader who has a mohawk (this movie was made in the 80s after all), but they're so well made I won't hold the monotone individual puppets against Gremlins. Otherwise, the set pieces, as I previously noted, are well replicated from idyllic suburban christmas comedies, and the prop department have also done a good job making wacky inventions we see on-screen every once in a while. Joe Dante does a very good job of maintaining a great pace for a popcorn flick and the cinematography looks quite alright for something that could be categorised as a B-movie according to some. The biggest downfall, even though it isn't such a big one after all, is the acting. The actors are mostly somewhat unknown film veterans or relative newcomers, and some do better and some do worse; Zach Galligan does a pretty good job as the main character, whereas his love interest, Phoebe Cates, does a pretty good job... in overacting her part every time she can. The rest of the cast is really mostly average, but I did get some kicks out of seeing a young Corey Feldman in a christmas tree-costume.

Gremlins is a very good movie to watch every once in a while and have some laughs. It even provides some "sophisticated laughs" which is something most wouldn't expect from a film like this, and the animatronics are a real godsend to look at. The real downfall is the acting, and the writing is flawed to an extent due to one, single horribly misplaced joke that should've been put into a movie like Very Bad Things or something. Still, I do recommend this one.

i love this movie...
it gives me a good laugh
when i really need
one.......
and if u havent seen it
well see it!!