Gremlins

Horrorphile

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Gremlins

December 5th 2007 11:48

A rip-roaring success on its initial release Gremlins (1984) has also garnered a small cult following among those who were the right age when it came out to be suitably wowed by the movie’s originality and blackly comedic verve. It was never my cup of green tea when it was released, and I only watched it for the very first time last night.

This is slightly odd, as the director Joe Dante directed one of the best werewolf movies ever made, The Howling (1981). Gremlins is his were-teddybear version; the lycanthrope movie for kids. Well kind of. It’s probably too frightening for the real young ‘uns, and it was way too silly and cute looking for me as a 16-year-old. I was more interested in The Evil Dead (1982).

Mr. Peltzer (Hoyts Axton) tries his wares on a wary Mr. Wing (Keye Luke)

However Dante created an outrageously successful hybrid of fantasy, comedy-romance, and horror (albeit mild). The movie was budgeted at $US11m and by the end of ’84 had made nearly $US150,000,000! Now that’s some serious profit.

A cute lil mogwai called Gizmo

Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton), a struggling inventor, is hustling his latest contraption, the Bathroom Buddy, around Chinatown, whilst keeping an eye out for a Xmas prezzie for his teenaged son, Billy (Zach Galligan). He’s lured into a basement antique store by a young Chinese boy and there meets the boy’s grandfather Mr. Wing (Keye Luke). He fails to impress them with his invention, but is taken by a small furry creature in a box.

Billy (Zach Galligan) and his pet mogwai

Mr. Wing refuses to sell it to him, but behind his grandfather’s back the Chinese boy exhanges the boxed pet, known as a mogwai, to Mr. Peltzer for $100. The boy then advises on three strict rules: 1. Never expose the mogwai to bright light or sunlight, 2. Never get the Mogwai wet, and 3. Never feed the mogwai after midnight. Simple enough, I guess, but then, what would a horror movie be without Murphy’s Law waiting in the wings.

Phoebe Cates as Kate

So, this is my Christmas movie; a little horror-lite for the whole family. It’s got veteran character actor Dick Miller as the local drunk, pretty Phoebe Cates as Billy’s love interest, silly Judge Reinhold as Billy’s employer, Steven Spielberg was one of the executive producers (the town’s local cinema is playing Watch the Skies, the original title for Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind), it’s written by Chris Columbus, one of Hollywood’s more successful domestic providers, and it’s directed by Joe Dante. What more could you ask for?

Billy teaches Gizmo a few notes to sing

The real stars of this so obviously sound-stage bound movie are the gremlins. Well, actually, they start as the cute wide-eyed mogwai. Billy is overjoyed at his early Xmas present, which Mr. Peltzer has affectionately named Gizmo. But, later in his room with friend Pete (a very young Corey Feldman) he accidentally spills water on lil’ Gizmo and, low and behold, several fur-balls eject themselves from Gizmo’s back. They immediately grow into several new mogwai. So now Billy has his hands full. These critters are mischievous as hell. So he takes one to his science teacher. Bad idea.

The science teacher leaves his sandwich out near the mogwai cage. It’s after 2 in the morning. Gobble, gobble gobble. Meanwhile at Billy’s place he too inadvertently feeds the remaining mogai, except for Gizmo, thinking it’s only 11.30pm (but his clock had been tampered with).

Invasion of the gremlin pods

By morning the mogwai have cocooned themselves. Then they hatch. And out spring … nasty, much bigger, gremlins! These cackling, beady-eyed monstrosities create havoc in the household. Billy needs to do something quick.

Head gremlin Stripe

Gremlins is pretty amusing in places, but it’s not scary, well certainly not for adults. The plotting and dialogue is fairly pedestrian, and there is a very obvious scene of time padding which takes place in the bar where Kate works part-time: the gremlins partying hard while Kate attempts to keep them occupied, in case they decide she’d be more fun to abuse, rather than the alcohol or the jukebox. Well, I’m guessing that’s the implication.

Gremlins' party time!

For a PG-rated movie there’s some intense gremlin violence; one gremlin fooling around with the kitchen blender finds itself obliterated when Billy’s mother hits the switch. This is arguably one of the movie’s highlights.

You could do much, much worse for Xmas horror fare. Gremlins is a reasonably entertaining movie in a low-brow, safe-horror kind of way. Perhaps Hollywood could remake it? CGI the creatures and it could star two spunky fresh-faced starlets plucked straight from TV-land. Not that I really care to be honest. I want to get my hands on a copy of Bob Clark’s Black Christmas (1974) to review before the day, but I don’t fancy my chances.

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

12 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Michaelie

December 5th 2007 12:09

Flick Wit

Influenced by Dahl, I believe? I love the whole idea of gremlins - though I suppose I wouldn't so much if I were flying a plane in WW II! Lol.

The mogwais are adorable - well Gizmo is, I don't know about the others. I personally love the comedy/horror genre. Was always very into The Munsters and The Addams Family, and Beetlejuice and Ghostbusters have their moments! Probably like Gremlins better than those two though.

Michaelie

Comment by Damo

December 5th 2007 21:04

I remember reading that the original story was much darker and serious. The family mother is beheaded. However Speilberg saw this as a family comedy and the screen play was tamed down.

However not a bad movie as an original comedy.
Just not even slightly scary.

Comment by Bryn

December 5th 2007 22:05

Horrorphile

Michaelie, Dahl, really? Curious indeed. I guess I can see a kind of Dahl-esque element. To be honest I'm not much of a horror-comedy fan myself. If it is to blend the two genres, then i prefer the comedy to black. Despite having worked on Peter Jackson's seminal Braindead, I'm not a fan of splatstick, as it has become known.

Comment by Bryn

December 5th 2007 22:08

Horrorphile

Damo, the darker version would've been cool to see. There are hints of it ...

Comment by Nathalie Cameron

December 5th 2007 22:41

Hellena Handbasket

Yup twas definately a family movie although I can remember as a kid I wasn't too impressed by "Spike" those bad guys really scared me when they were coming out of the cocoons

Now I can say I've got the movie and those things don't scare me one bit *glances around* well maybe just a lil

Comment by Michaelie

December 6th 2007 03:06

Flick Wit

Dahl created the creature 'gremlin' - as in, expanded on what people had been talking about in WW II - after his experiences as a pilot. It was the inspiration for his book The Gremlins, which Dante was apparently a huge fan of.

Comment by Bryn

December 6th 2007 03:47

Horrorphile

Nathalie, yes, tis amusing what growing up can do to one's adolescent fears

Michaelie, the only real WWII pilot writing of Dahl's I know is A Piece of Cake ... I never read his autobiography, the title of which escapes me ... Boy was the first part, right? And I've never heard of his book The Gremlins, mind you I kinda lost track of his stuff around the time of The Witches ...

Comment by Michaelie

December 6th 2007 04:27

Flick Wit

The Gremlins was his very first kids' book, about cute little creatures who create a lot of trouble. I think it was supposed to be made into a movie but there was some fuss because they couldn't prove that Dahl 'owned' the term 'gremlin', even though he was the first to bring it into pop culture - before that it was a term used in the airforce in WW II to denote problems with the planes.

Boy - Tales of Childhood or something. I've read it but don't own it. Haven't read A Piece of Cake, but I think that was his first article? He wrote it because he was angry about the media misrepresenting his crash in the desert, I think. The Gremlins is his first work of fiction - but like all of his stuff - the foundation is highly autobiographical.

Comment by JohnDoe

December 6th 2007 08:56

Film & TV on DVD

Great review Bryn,

One of my all time favourites that still presses all the right buttons on the blender. I still find it magical, exciting and funny every christmas when it finds it way into the DVD player....I was actually planning on reviewing it for Noel.

Comment by Bryn

December 8th 2007 06:38

Horrorphile

I had no idea Dahl brought the word into popular culture ... well, you learn something new everyday ...

Cheers JD ...
I've ordered Black Christmas too.
Yes.