Gremlins

Up until a couple days ago when I watched this on Netflix, I had never seen Gremlins. There was one night where I watched it on Halloween. I ended up falling asleep and waking up in the middle of the scene where the mom was killing the weird looking gremlins, which I had never seen before mind you, with knives and a microwave. Looking at that scene now I think that scene is hilarious and kind of badass, but when I was a kid, waking up from a nap infused with the alien sounds of terrifying little puppets, that was a very scary scene. I am however trying to ease myself into some horror films, especially with IT coming out in a week so I wanted to watch something that was pretty tame but still a movie of some cultural significance. Hence why I picked Gremlins.

Gremlins is a little bit of a strange film because it takes place right around Christmas Eve. So in many ways it’s more of a Christmas film than it is a Halloween film. And neither of those facts matter because I watched this in August. It follows the story of a teenager by the name of Billy (played by Zach Galligan) who receives a gift from his father (played by Hoyt Axton) who is an inventor. The gift is a small creature that he bought in a really politically incorrect shop in China town called a Mogwai. The little creatures name is Gizmo (oddly voiced by Howie Mandel…?). Billy takes in the creature with open arms but him and his father are warned of three rules that are essential to taking care of a Mogwai.

1. Keep it out of light, light can kill him.

2. Don’t get him wet.

3. Never feed him after midnight.  

Of course, in one way or another Billy ends up breaking all those rules. When he gets water on Gizmo, he multiplies and more Mogwai are spawned from him. Then eventually when they are fed after midnight, the Mogwai transform into the devilish and mischievous creatures called the Gremlins.

So I kind of need to make fun of myself as a kid because I am figuring out I was afraid of a lot of things that really weren’t meant to be that scary. There are a couple of movies that I was terrified of as a kid or believed that they were incredibly scary that really weren’t that scary. I by no means am a horror film expert now because I watched Gremlins or IT but it’s good to face some of my childhood fears.

The fun thing about Gremlins is that once you get past that fear you had as a kid, you can really appreciate the comedy aspect of the horror comedy film that Gremlins really is. And it’s a fun ride. Not a phenomenal movie in my opinion but a fun ride.

There are a lot of really fun parts about this film. Mainly because it feels so nostalgically 80s and so quintessentially Steve Spielberg-esc that there’s just a lot to love. You have the likeable lead who is a teenager and hasn’t really gotten into adulthood yet. You’ve got a romance between him and a girl named Kate (played by Phoebe Cates who my teenage self would be all about). You’ve got a wacky environment in not only this kids house which is full of wacky inventions his father makes, but in a town where everyone is a caricature and is it’s entertaining to watch them all be terrorized by the Gremlins.

And the Gremlins are their own characters. While they are definitely evil little creatures, they’re more mischevious and cunning than pure evil. They straight up murder people so they’re still a pretty big threat but they were threatening in a way only the 80s could make a little creature like that threatening.

The Gremlins have a lot of moments where they’re drinking, making jokes… watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarves… and they’re really entertaining. People die in this film, people get hurt in this film but in the atmosphere this movie gives off, it provides for a very funny dark comedy.

Also the puppetry in this film is a lot of fun. While I don’t think that it has really been able to hold up 33 years later and has just made a puppet like Gizmo, who I think was supposed to be cute originally but now, just looks creepy, Gremlins does make some really interesting choices to make the puppets threatening and makes you feel like there are actually little monsters roaming around the little town of Kingston Falls.

From what I understand, Gremlins was supposed to poke fun at some of the monster movies that had come out in a comedic and light hearted way. While it definitely earns the PG-13 rating and I wouldn’t recommend showing this movie to kids who are easily frightened like my pansy self about 2 years ago, I do think that the movie is able to give off a lesson of taking care of your pets as well as prepare kids for some of the scary stuff they might see in films these days.

Now what are the downsides?

Well the puppetry is one thing. Also the fact that this film is very weird and just down right random at times can be a downfall of it. While I love weird movies that are different, I can't help but feel like this movie's weirdness works against it at times. It's so alternative and strange that it's almost not enjoyable. It also plays as a strength at times but I think my overall feeling is that it makes me just think, what the hell was that?

I've really gone back and forth with this film. Is it a film I really like? Is it a film I don't really like? I can't really decide. I don't think it is one that I will ever really go back to because it is so weird and out of no where. I recently saw a post online that talked about the weird inspirations for films and TV shows these days and I would love to just sit down with the director and writer of this show and just let them talk me through what was going through their minds with this film because it is so strange.

The odd thing is, this movie actually kind of grew on me the more I thought about it. It’s creative, it’s got some pretty memorable performances and the actors fit into the environment pretty well. It’s a little cheesy at times but it was the 80s, some of that is to be expected. I think if you’re going to compare this movie to anything, I would compare it to Little Shop of Horrors. There are some pretty devilish characters and a little bit frightening ideas that usually people would be terrified of in real life. But the movie plays it off in a way that your fears are correct but you have a good time nonetheless without having it just be a scare fest.

Again it comes down to the fact that this movie is less a scary film and more of an adventure film that utilizes some creepy imagery. I go back and forth, pretty much every day I've waited to do this review on whether or not I really like it so I'm just gonna say, get some beer, get some friends together, and watch this film and decide for yourself. It's definitely something worth experiencing at least once. 

But those are my thoughts on Gremlins, what did you think? When was the first time you watched this film? Did you think it was scary? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog. 

I'll leave you with this. I've been watching a lot of Rick and Morty lately and I'm a huge fan of Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon's work. This is one of their earlier videos. It's not overly hilarious except for the beginning but it used the Gremlin Theme song which is oddly catchy. Enjoy!