GREMLINS – AN UNDERATED CHRISTMAS GEM?

 It’s a keyboard, Gizmo!

Why is Gremlins such a great holiday movie, Culturedemandsgeeks ask? 

Christmas movies are notoriously cheesy and some miss the fun and fabulous spirit of the festive time of the year. While others try to hard and fail miserably. Gremlins on the other hand recognizers the cheesy elements of Christmas humour and add a dash of horror to the mix and the recipe for a great movie ensues.

Produced by Steven Spielberg, Written by Chris Columbus and Directed by Joe Dante, the 1984 creature-filled Gremlins exploded into cinemas worldwide. A mix between comedy, horror, science fiction and fantasy.

Joe Dante effort is set in a small town at Christmastime. Seeking a unique gift for his son an inventor (Hoyt Axton) purchases a cute, fuzzy little “Mogwai” from a Chinatown shopkeeper’s (Keye Luke) grandson (John Louie), who dispenses  (“Don’t expose him to bright light. Don’t ever get him wet. And don’t ever, ever feed him after midnight,”) the pre-mentioned warning before closing the deal. (And this sage advice is totally and obviously ignored midway through Gremlins, with devastating results!)

 CUTTING TO SCENES:

In one standout scene, the melancholic Kate (Phoebe Cates) has a monologue about why she hates Christmas—turns out her dad dressed as Santa one year, got trapped in the chimney and died. “And that’s how I found out there was no Santa Claus,” she says as the camera cuts to Gizmo the very shocked Mogwai. Poor Gizmo just found out there’s no Santa, too. Talk about breaking the illusion, hey!

Another glittering scene has the gremlins gathered in the theatre watching Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs as they chime in on the famous work song. The genius of the film and these scenes is that it doesn’t take itself seriously. Gremlins has a ridiculous premise, but embraces its over-the-top-ness full tilt and is not scared to be dark and bleak in places.

.I love fizzy! I love popcorn!

The cast are great too! We have itty-bitty (80s) Corey Feldman! He’s adorable as the stupid kid that makes the gremlins multiply (we shout at the screen ‘No!’ until our faces turn blue) the first time.

Judge Reinhold pops up and plays another one of those posh jerks he became famous for in the 80s, and Phoebe Cates is a melodramatic Kate, but Zach Galligan’s sincere Billy Peltzer is who you root for. Bright-eyed and naïve, he’d make an easy hero, if it weren’t for the movie’s true star – Gizmo.

                        Photos: Warner Bros.

The little bag of fluff, Gizmo, voiced by Howie Mandel, is shy and polite, though the plucky ‘Mogwai’ toughens up when his friends are in danger. With bandana around his head (Rambo-style) and hits the gas on his pink Barbie-sized Corvette. Don’t mess with pint-sized drivers!

Underlying Theme: follow the rules!

As much fun as Gremlins is whenever you watch it over and over again, it also has a strong theme. Billy’s father essentially steals Gizmo while traveling because he thinks the creature would make an awesome gift for his kid. Just listen to what’s being said in the film: “don’t steal” and “listen to instructions” – ultimately is at the film’s core.

Because Billy Peltzer – or anyone else who doesn’t know how to follow the rules for that matter – doesn’t know how to take care of it/treat it, the situation gets out of hand and they can no longer control the Gremlins.

After the townspeople and the gremlins battle it out, Mr Wing (remember him, the old oriental guy who Billy’s father stole Gizmo off in the first place) arrives to take the Mowgai back, telling Mr Peltzer that he had no business taking him in the first place (you don’t say!) Nothing like a side of truth to balance of Christmas dinner, am I right?

Whether you choose to see it as a statement on consumer pop-culture filled or simply a special effects-heavy popcorn flick, Gremlins is a classic. I also love how dated this film is, how un-PC it is. The Gremlins are clearly show smoking virtually all the time! drinking …

Despite the horror-flick title, this is a movie of wicked wit and startling invention, and it probably one of the first horror comedies supposedly for all the family. I think I appreciate this movie as an adult more than I ever did as a child, and I look back at Gremlins with wide-eye wonder, and I finally know the rules of Mogwai maintenance.

Do You?