Our ongoing series reviewing the greatest Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror movies. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
Directed by: Joe Dante
Produced by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Christopher Columbus
Starring: Hoyt Axton, Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Frances Lee McCain
Original Release: 1984
Reviewed By: John J. Joex
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Synopsis: Inventor Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is desperate to find a last minute Christmas gift for his son Billy (Zach Galligan) and he stumbles across an old antique store in Chinatown with a cute, furry little creature known as a Mogwai. The owner of the store (Key Luke who played Master Po on Kung Fu and dubbed Kwai Chang Caine “Grasshopper) is reluctant to sell the creature to Randall, but he is persistent and eventually procures the odd pet for his son. But there are specific instructions that must be followed when caring for this creature: do not expose it to bright lights, do not get it wet, and do not feed it after midnight. When Billy receives the Mogwai for Christmas, which he names Gizmo, he is delighted by his new pet and immediately takes a shinning to him. But as everybody in the audience knew as soon as the rules were listed, Billy slips and begins to break them. Gizmo gets wet which causes him to spawn five more Mogwai, which have a nastier disposition. Then these five manage to get their hands on some grub after the witching hour which causes them to morph into the gremlins of the title. They then go on a rampage throughout the town, wreaking havoc and bring terror to its residents right during the middle of the Christmas holidays.
Review/Commentary: Gremlins sprung unto an unsuspecting public back in 1984 giving us one of the first big-budget films of the Blockbuster Era to mix Science Fiction/Fantasy elements with comedy (one of the other early ones to do this, Ghostbusters, actually opened on the same weekend). The film worked as a parody of sorts on monster movies while also playing off of the prevalent “consequences of actions” theme we saw so often in the horror comics from EC and similar publishers. It was in many ways a comic book realized on the big screen (and much better than the Stephen King / George A. Romero failed attempt with Creepshow), and it gleefully reveled in the same subversiveness that stirred up Fredric Wertham and others to condemn the horror comics of the late 40’s and early 50’s. In fact, Gremlins took a beating of its own as critics claimed it went too far with its comic violence. And it did push acceptable levels in this realm, but you would expect as much from a dark comedy like this. And in fact, Columbus’ original script was even darker having Billy’s mother die, his dog get eaten, and the Gremlins going on a feeding frenzy in McDonalds feasting on the customers (so much for sponsor placement). So take that into account when looking at the “tamed down” final product that hit the theaters.
But it was the contrast of the nastiness of the gremlins with the holiday setting that made the film really register at a gut level with the audience. Joe Dante did an excellent job of pushing the audience’s levels of tolerance just enough while keeping the viewers laughing all the time so that the film treaded that fine line and succeeded in accomplishing what it set out to do. Of course I say that from the perspective of a genre fan and I acknowledge that Gremlins was targeted directly at this subset of the audience. Those who grew up watching monster movies and shows like the Outer Limits and reading the comics mentioned above appreciated this film the most. It took the morality lessons mixed with critters-run-amok stories we found from those sources to the level they could never previously realize with their limited budgets and also with the monitoring they were subjected to from censors and watch-groups. This ended up turning off part of the audience, but judging by the movie’s Box Office success, plenty more got the joke and enjoyed the film.
Of course you have to acknowledge the special effects team as well for their accomplishments in bringing the creatures of the title to life. In this day and age, CGI would have delivered hundreds of gremlins effortlessly to the screen, but at that time they had to rely on puppetry to animate the movie monsters. Of course Jim Henson and his Muppets had advanced the art of puppetry (as we had seen with Yoda from the Star Wars films and Henson’s own The Dark Crystal), and the crew who worked on this film obviously drew upon his pioneering work. The gremlins were not only believable but quickly become some of the most iconic movie monsters of the Blockbuster Era. Without that achievement, this movie probably would have registered as well with audiences.
But Gremlins did not rely on its special effects alone. It had more substance in its dark comedy story that twisted monster movie and holiday movie formulas with much subversive glee. And you could argue that this subversiveness extended beyond the film itself as it converted these wicked little creatures into marketable toys that parents found oddly acceptable and snatched up for their kids. Of course it also delivered a great horror/comedy that’s still well remembered as a ground-breaking film over two and a half decades after its initial release.
You Can Still Buy Some Great Gremlins Toys from Amazon.com (Perfect for a Late Xmas Gift):
