Back in 1984, Gremlins came out the same day as Ghostbusters, and made just as big a splash; these funny, fantasy films seemed to herald a continuation of the Spielberg-ian sense of wonder from ET mixed with shards of dark comedy. And yet while Ghostbusters feels like it’s never been away, with animated series, video games, reboots and sequels, Joe Dante’s Gremlins has spawned only one, the freewheeling 1990 follow-up that’s one of cinema’s great guilty pleasures.
Back in 1984, Gremlins was a big deal, a proper Christmas movie with the inhabitants of picturesque Kingston Falls dealing with a menace that arrives in disguise. An inventor stumbles upon an ancient Chinese man (Keye Luke) and tries to buy Gizmo, a small, furry creature known as a mogwai for his family Christmas. The old man’s son completes the transaction, but when the family get Gizmo out of his box, he turns out to have reproductive powers that enable him to multiply. And when these other mogwai feed after midnight, they turn into the gremlins of the title, devilish, anarchic creatures who smoke, drink and watch old movies while terrorising each other and attacking anyone that crosses their path.
The central characters here are Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Pheobe Cates), whose romance grows as they fight off the critters; Kate’s monologue about her father’s festive death helps set a deliberately uneasy tone. Not everything about the gremlins is clear; are they aliens, ancient creatures, or what? The word mogwai derives from the Cantonese for devil, and the Chinese lore is that they are demons who reproduce when brought into contact with rain, but surely the cute Gizmo can’t be as bad-ass as that; those literary enough to have read the novelisation will know that these ARE aliens. But such backstory hardly matters when this ‘gift of the mogwai’ continually ups the ante in terms of the cartoonish action; the gremlins are genuinely fierce, the puppetry and creature designs are fabulously grimy, and Gizmo’s heroics are nicely inspired by his love of watching old movies.
Gremlins is decidedly non-PC by today’s standards., and it’s easy to see why audiences were fascinated but also horrified by the violent results; the sequel really develops the satirical edge required to make this kind of thing land, and there are moments here that go too far in search of a laugh. But Gremlins is a somewhat neglected film in 2021; hopefully the proposed new tv show will rekindle the mogwai spirit for a new generation to come.
Definitely creepy. Remember being a bit shocked by this at the time. That someone had the audacity to sneak a horror picture into a Xmas film.
And apparently many parents felt the same way; this is one of the best examples of a Xmas horror film….
What a review ! Didn’t know the alien origin of those creatures. But definitely the funniest Christmas movie I’d like to re-watch as soon as possible now.
Merry Christmas to you 🎄🎁
I need to see the 2nd, I quite enjoyed the first, especially the part with the stairlift. Have a cool Yule Dix, enjoy Matrix (again). It’ll be a while until I get to see it so am well jell!
Hey Fraggle, you have a Merry Crimbo yourself! Gremlins 2 is a far superior film to Matrix Anything, so that’s what you need to see this festive period!
Blimey I thought it must be good (Matrix) if you’re seeing it again and again! Sadly Phil’s friend has loaned him a superdooper 4K all bells and whistles Bluray of the Dead Bond movie so I’ll be doing that. Sigh.
For all my complaints, it’s still a Bond movie, Craig was a great Bond, and there are some whizzo moments. Ignore the blowhard critics like myself and enjoy the 4K. At least I can skip the jellyfish in Matrix 4…
I’m agog to see the jellyfish!!
I’ll look for a pic.
Sent you an email pic of something, I think…
Do you think Gremlins 2 killed off the interest? Just wondering why this didn’t take off even though it was just as popular as Ghostbusters at the time.
For the sake of Christmas movies every where, who would win:
John McClane or Gizmo?
I’m not sure why Gremlins hasn’t stayed the course; people didn’t even turn out for the superior sequel. I guess Speilberg was a little ashamed of the result…
John McLane vs Gizmo would be a high-scoring draw.
If they made a buddy-cop movie called Hard Gremlins, with Gizmo toting a machine gun, I’d definitely watch that.
Gizmo is more of a Rambo fan if I remember the second film correctly….
I’ve never seen the second. I watched Gremlins in the early ’00’s and wasn’t impressed enough to go seek out the sequel.
Does he put on a little red bandana?
Oh, the second is far superior. Gizmo watches Rambo; First Blood Part 2 and yes, wears a red bandana and starts firing explosive bow and arrow protectiles. It’s a masterpiece.
Hahahaha. Yeaaaaah, it sounds vastly superior 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jHhLIx6Ib4
Oh. My. Goodness….
Is the correct answer.
It’s still fun, but not sure I’d call it a Christmas movie. The snow doesn’t look real enough.
It’s SO a Christmas movie. Everyone knows that.