Gremlins is a whee of a film (if you don't mind the occasional gross-out) from producer Steven Spielberg, writer Chris Columbus, and director Joe Dante. Zach Galligan is the young man whose inventor father (Hoyt Axton) gives him an odd Christmas present: a tiny, furry creature that comes with a set of rules: don't get him wet, don't feed him after midnight, and keep him away from direct sunlight. But Galligan breaks the first rule and the damp little critter pops out a dozen little offspring. Then the offspring break the second rule and, overnight, turn from cute furry guys to malevolent scaly guys with world domination on their mind. The only way to stop them: rule three. But it's an anxious (and extremely funny) battle to make it to daylight--and the bad gremlins find ways to multiply over and over. Great special effects and a gruesome sense of humor make this a wild (if occasionally dark and scary) ride. --Marshall Fine
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Joe Dante's hilariously funny, wickedly scary film is about a loveable, furry little Christmas gift that multiplies into many little Christmas gifts, with savage consequences. Rand Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is an inventor who hasn't successfully invented anything. But this Christmas he's bringing his family something special--a small, cuddly creature known as a mogwai. The little fella comes with three crucial instructions. He's not to be fed after midnight, he's not to get any direct light and he should never be given so much as a drop of water. If Rand and his son Billy (Zach Galligan) can adhere to these rules they can avoid the otherwise tragic consequences. Unfortunately, the rules are harder to stick to than it seems, and suddenly Billy finds himself with far too many "pets," all with big appetites. It's up to Billy and his girlfriend (Phoebe Cates) to stop the mischievous gremlins before they ruin Christmas for the residents of rural Kingston Falls. GREMLINS features a delightful combination of horror and humor that introduced Gizmo and his wild relatives to an entire generation of young fans.
Don't ever get it wet. Keep it away from bright light. And no matter how much it cries, no matter how much it begs--never, ever feed it after midnight. With these instructions, young Billy Peltzer takes possession of his cuddly new pet. Billy will get a whole lot more than he bargained for.
4.
Gremlins (1984, 106 min.)
Don't ever get it wet. Keep it away from bright light. And no matter how much it cries, no matter how much it begs--never, ever feed it after midnight. With these instructions, young Billy Peltzer takes possession of his cuddly new pet. Billy will get a whole lot more than he bargained for.
Gremlins 2 (1990, 107 min.)
The rules are the same but the laughs are bigger and thrills are better. This time Billy and everyone's favorite Mogwai, Gizmo, must face off against a new batch of Gremlins that definitely think New York is their kind of town.
5.
When his absent-minded father gives young Billy Pelzer (Zach Galligan) a new pet, he warns him to abide by three rules. The rules get broken, of course, and the pet--a cute Mogwai named Gizmo--unwittingly gives birth to the vicious Gremlins who proceed to terrorise the town.
Although the long shadow of Producer Steven Spielberg hangs over Joe Dante's 1984 comedy Gremlins almost as much as it did over Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist (1982), Dante doesn't allow it to overwhelm his own quirky style too much. Glimpses of Robbie the Robot and The Time Machine (which promptly disappears) at an inventors' convention reveal his passion for old-movie references (which culminated with Matinee, 1993). Aided and abetted by Spielberg's guidance and a script by Chris Columbus (who would go on to direct and produce the Home Alone franchise) and a music score by Jerry Goldsmith, Dante had all the help he needed to make the biggest hit of his career.
Much of the humour derives from Dante's playful handling of the setting in Smallsville, USA, whose inhabitants are as much the target of his satire as they are of the Gremlins' unwanted solicitations. The xenophobic neighbour who warns prophetically of "gremlins" in foreign cars and machinery provides a subtext for the attack on homely American values, as does showing Invasion of the Body Snatchers on TV while the wicked Gremlins hatch. The sight of the little tykes cavorting in a bar, getting drunk and even dancing in pink leggings looks suspiciously like a satirical dig at the whole 1980's culture of selfishness: with their destructive impulses and overindulgences the Gremlins are the ultimate egotistical yuppies. As with many Spielberg projects, the bland hero saves the day for nostalgic, old-fashioned values, but there are plenty of laughs along the way--for example in the now-classic scene when the hero's mother fights off Gremlins in the kitchen by stuffing them in the blender and microwave. Dante's 1990 sequel is even more satirically pointed, and he effectively remade the original with Small Soldiers (1998), replacing Gremlins with toys.
On the DVD: Disappointingly, there are no extra features at all here, aside from subtitles and "interactive menus"--which simply means there is an onscreen menu and it works. --Mark Walker
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