I watched Gremlins, directed by Joe Dante, released in 1984.
Starring Zach Gallagan, Hoyt Axton, Keye Luke, Phoebe Cates and Howie Mandel as
the voice of Gizmo. It is a horror comedy that is set against Christmas as a
background. The story is that Billy (played by Zach Gallagan) has a Dad who is
an inventor who gets his son a Christmas present from an elderly Chinese man
named Mr. Wing (played by Keye Luke). This gift is called a Mogwai though it
comes with three rules: Don’t expose it to bright light, never get it wet and
do not feed it after midnight, otherwise bad things will happen. Billy loves it
and names it Gizmo. He gets Gizmo wet by accident and it spawns more creatures.
Out of the bunch that is spawned, one has a mohawk on it and is named Stripe
and he is pure evil. He manages to get the others fed after midnight save for
Gizmo and they become tiny green monsters that wreak havoc on Billy’s town.
I saw this as a kid and though it was pretty neat, it still freaked me the hell out. The gremlins themselves were kind of weird looking especially in their gooey egg sacks. I still liked the movie, so much so that I fell into the Gremlin fever at the time. What can I say, it was the 80’s and I was little.
I watched it again as an adult and it still has a nostalgic quality to it that I didn’t think would be there. I was also surprised at how violent it was considering how old it is. Then again, our sensibilities were quite different then and this really isnt a movie for kids though marketing would suggest otherwise. This is also the first time I saw Phoebe Cates and even when I was little, I thought she was something else. Seeing now, it’s amazing how she was even in that movie because she is the darkest part of the dark comedy that this movie is. She doesn’t bring it down even when she had that scene talking about her Dad and how she doesn’t like Christmas. It is quite the anomaly of a movie.
There are a lot of cameos in it both living people and artifacts from different flims, which is practically a staple of Joe Dante’s movies. Even the voice actors that provide the growls and laughing of the Gremlins themselves are a trove of 80’s voice talent.The score by Jerry Goldsmith is infectious as well and you will find the theme both earwormy and yourself singing it long after seeing the movie.
Overall, I am impressed this movie got made at all but that was the thing about the 80’s, more open mindedness and creative style that is unmatched by today’s standards. If you don’t watch it during holidays I think this would be a good one to pop in between traditional favourites.
I saw this as a kid and though it was pretty neat, it still freaked me the hell out. The gremlins themselves were kind of weird looking especially in their gooey egg sacks. I still liked the movie, so much so that I fell into the Gremlin fever at the time. What can I say, it was the 80’s and I was little.
I watched it again as an adult and it still has a nostalgic quality to it that I didn’t think would be there. I was also surprised at how violent it was considering how old it is. Then again, our sensibilities were quite different then and this really isnt a movie for kids though marketing would suggest otherwise. This is also the first time I saw Phoebe Cates and even when I was little, I thought she was something else. Seeing now, it’s amazing how she was even in that movie because she is the darkest part of the dark comedy that this movie is. She doesn’t bring it down even when she had that scene talking about her Dad and how she doesn’t like Christmas. It is quite the anomaly of a movie.
There are a lot of cameos in it both living people and artifacts from different flims, which is practically a staple of Joe Dante’s movies. Even the voice actors that provide the growls and laughing of the Gremlins themselves are a trove of 80’s voice talent.The score by Jerry Goldsmith is infectious as well and you will find the theme both earwormy and yourself singing it long after seeing the movie.
Overall, I am impressed this movie got made at all but that was the thing about the 80’s, more open mindedness and creative style that is unmatched by today’s standards. If you don’t watch it during holidays I think this would be a good one to pop in between traditional favourites.
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