Gremlins

Gremlins
There Might Be a Gremlin in Your House
Genre: Black Comedy Horror Directed by: Joe Dante Produced by: Michael Finnell Written by: Chris Columbus Starring: Zach Galligan Phoebe Cates Hoyt Axton Polly Holliday Frances Lee McCain Cinematography: John Hora Editing: Tina Hirsch Music by: Jerry Goldsmith Production company: Warner Bros. Amblin Entertainment Distributed by: Warner Bros. Release date: June 8, 1984 Runtime: 106 minutes Country: United States Language: English Budget: $11 million Box office: $212.9 million Franchise: Gremlins Sequel: Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Gremlins is a 1984 American horror black comedy film directed by Joe Dante and released by Warner Brothers. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature called a mogwai as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. The film was released on June 8, 1984. A sequel titled Gremlins 2: The New Batch, was released in 1990.

Plot

A gadget salesman is looking for a special gift for his son and finds one at a store in Chinatown. The shopkeeper is reluctant to sell him the "mogwai", but sells it to him with the warning to never expose him to bright light, water, or to feed him after midnight. All of this happens and the result is a gang of gremlins that decide to tear up the town on Christmas Eve.

Why It Rocks

1. Gremlins was produced at a time when combining horror and comedy was gradually becoming popular.
2. The story of the film was conceived by Chris Columbus, director of Home Alone.
3. The film (and the Mogwai) became an icon of 80's pop culture, including the leading Mogwai, Gizmo and Stripe. 
4. The poster itself, by the late but talented John Alvin, is a reason on it's own.
5. The film is a classic send up to many traditional monster films such as Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
6. A couple of very likable characters like Gizmo, Billy, Kate, and most of all, Stripe.
7. Perfect and chaotic soundtrack that is performed by Jerry Goldsmith.
8. The film has very subtle cameos littered throughout the runtime, legendary director Steven Spielberg is only one of them!
9. Gizmo has an iconic character design, a mixture of quite adorable and somewhat unsettling.
10. The film succeeds at producing both a comedy and a horror in one go which can't be easy. 
11. Gremlins is a story that plays like a darker version of Steven Spielberg's "E.T.", which is funny, because it was Spielberg himself who had the vision of "Gremlins" becoming a movie.
12. Excellent directing by Joe Dante.
13. The way the gremlins sabotaged Mrs. Deagle's chair by making it go faster and flinging her through the window killing her permanently was a very satisfying moment, due to her always consistently being spiteful to Billy and threatening to kill his dog Barney.

Bad Qualities

1. The film has pretty gruesome and violent scenes, some not suitable for the PG-rating (and yes, this film was rated PG). This, alongside Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, led to the creation of the PG-13 rating in the United States and the 12 rating in the UK (The film was originally certified 15 over there.), which it caused the controversial.
2. Plot holes:
   • If water causes the gremlins to multiply, how come walking in the snow or drinking alcohol doesn't affect them?
   • One of the instructions is don't feed them after midnight but, it's always after midnight so, how long after midnight?

Reception

Despite the initial mixed criticism for some of its more violent sequences, Gremlins has continued to receive critical praise over the years and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1984. It currently holds an 84% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes based on 70 reviews, with an average rating of 7.34/10. The consensus reads, "Whether you choose to see it as a statement on consumer culture or simply a special effects-heavy popcorn flick, Gremlins is a minor classic.".

External Links

• Gremlins at the Internet Movie Database
• Gremlins on Rotten Tomatoes

Comments

Loading comments...