A boy inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
While “Stranger Things” did a commendable job in replicating the ambiance of 1980s smalltown America, to get the real feel, you need to go back to 1984 when Joe Dante’s “Gremlins” was released on an unsuspecting public. The trailer for the film leaned more towards the cute aspects of the movie and hid the maniacal monster element which you didn’t witness unless you actually went to see it at theaters. And see it people did. In droves. It was another big Spielberg-produced film that spawned a sequel in 1990, titled “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.”
Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is an inventor who is on the road before Christmas and stumbles across a small antique store in Chinatown. In the store, he discovers a small, cuddly creature called Mogwai and immediately wants it for his son Billy (Zach Galligan). The store’s owner refuses, even when Randall offers him $200, stating that the world is not ready for Mogwai. Randall leaves but the owner’s young grandson, who thinks his grandfather is crazy for turning down so much money, sneaks Mogwai out the back door for him. They exchange items and before Randall leaves, the young boy imparts three important rules that must never be broken:
1. Do not expose Mogwai to bright lights, especially sunlight, as it will kill it
2. Do not let Mogwai anywhere near water
And, most importantly:
3. Never, ever feed Mogwai after midnight
On hearing those words Randall disappears into the night. When he gets home, he gives Billy the present and tells him that it won’t wait until Christmas. Curious, Billy opens it to discover a small, adorable animal and immediately falls in love with it. He nicknames it Gizmo and as he pampers it with kindness and affection, Gizmo even sings back to him in contentment. His father tells him of the three rules and that they must never be broken but before you can say “Bright light, bright light,” Billy’s friend Pete (Corey Feldman) accidentally knocks a glass of water on Gizmo which causes five more Mogwai to spawn from its back. Gradually, the Mogwai begin to multiply and when their mischievous leader, Stripe, discovers the local YMCA and jumps into the swimming pool, he spawns hundreds of malicious and destructive gremlins that envelop the entire town and who will destroy anyone, and anything, that gets in their homicidal path.
“Gremlins,” along with “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” which were released in 1984, both influenced the introduction of a new rating: PG-13. One scene, in particular, has a gremlin exploding in a microwave and while the censors didn’t think it was violent enough to warrant an “R” rating, they said it was too intense to be rated PG so, at the behest of producer Steven Spielberg, they created the PG-13 rating. It had been a long time since I watched “Gremlins” and as much as I love horror movies, even I was surprised at how violent some of the scenes were, especially for a film that in its time, was aimed at a much younger audience.
Composer Jerry Goldsmith outdid himself with a score reminiscent of some of his earlier classics, including “The Omen” and “Poltergeist.” Being 1984, CGI didn’t exist so all the gremlins were produced utilizing practical special effects, although the following year, Spielberg would produce “Young Sherlock Holmes” in which the first-ever all CGI character, a digitized medieval swordsman, would make its big-screen debut.
By today’s standards, “Gremlins” would pale in comparison to some of the bloodshed that fills our screens and which is supposed to be intended for younger audiences but with kids playing violent and bloodthirsty video games that would put the video games we played at the same age, to shame, it’s no surprise that the destructiveness and cruelty they are privy to, would make a movie like “Gremlins” obsolete. Which is a shame, because once you get past the annihilation and the carnage and the bloodletting, “Gremlins” is actually a wonderful, little Christmas movie!
Available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital October 1st from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
