Gremlins

Gremlins

Starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Frances Lee McCain

Directed by Joe Dante

The Story:
While looking for a Christmas present for his son, wannabe inventor Rand Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) finds himself in a Chinese shop where he buys a cute, furry creature called a mogwai, who he feels would be a perfect pet.  He is given three important instructions: do not subject him to bright lights or sunlight, don't get him wet, and don't feed him after midnight.

His son Billy (Zach Galligan) names the creature Gizmo and at first it's all happy bliss.  Then he accidentally gets Gizmo wet, and Gizmo reproduces five more mogwais.  These ones, however, aren't as friendly and nice as Gizmo, and they set out to create more of themselves.  Soon the entire town is overrun with these mean mogwai, and it's up to Billy, his girlfriend Kate (Phoebe Cates), and Gizmo to stop them before they destroy everything they love.

The Synopsis:
The 80s was a pioneering decade in cinema, mostly due to the advancement in puppet animations.  Before the acronym CGI became a household name, directors had to rely on puppets to convey a fantasy film, and Joe Dante's "Gremlins" blends fantasy with reality in a way that's endearing to audiences old and young alike, despite the frightening nature of the film itself.

"Gremlins," like "Die Hard," is believed by some to not be a Christmas movie.  However, "Gremlins" is indeed a Christmas movie, since 1) it takes place during Christmastime; 2) he is given as a Christmas gift; and 3) there's snow and Christmas decorations everywhere.  Not every Christmas movie has to have Santa Claus in it.

"Gremlins" is one of those interesting family classics in that it's absolutely terrifying, yet also humorous and heartfelt.  I remember seeing this as a kid and being a bit freaked out by the evil Gremlins, but now they're more funny than frightening (although they still instill a bit of childhood fear).  It's virtually impossible to make a family friendly horror movie, but director Joe Dante (who also directed the classic horror film "The Howling") managed to pull off the impossible and deliver not just a family friendly horror, but also make it PG and take place during Christmas.

The Gremlins themselves are visual marvels, and actually hold well as time progressed.  There's always been talk of a new "Gremlins" movie, but it would be a disaster because they would use CGI and take away from the true heart of the film.  Even though filming with them was exceedingly difficult, it added to the fantasy of the film and surprisingly gave them fully developed personalities, especially Gizmo, a creature every child wanted in the 80s as their own pet.

When a film starts out with three things to not do to a mogwai, you know those rules will be broken.  It's interesting though how the progression of the rules lead to there being a cute mogwai, turning into several, then turning feral, and ultimately serving as a means to their end.  They're cute until you get them wet, then they multiply.  They're fine until they eat after midnight, then they cocoon into devilish-looking fiends.  Then you use sunlight to kill them.  So basically, if you follow the rules, you'll lead a happy life with one mogwai, but if you break one rule - you might as well break them all.

It's in these rules that the biggest plot holes reside.  When they bring Gizmo home, the family dog licks it.  A dog's tongue has saliva, which means moisture, and so Gizmo would've gotten wet, yet he didn't reproduce.  As they traverse the outside, they trudge through snow which, as we all know, is frozen water.  Yet still Gizmo doesn't reproduce there either.  Gizmo talks the whole time, but it's only near the end that Billy actually notices it.  Most plot holes like this would make for a more disappointing film, but this movie has so much nostalgic magic to me, that I didn't mind it.

The acting was great, everyone stayed mostly to their tried-and-true tropes (the nerdy kid, the attractive girlfriend, the caring father, the cranky older woman, etc.), and the setting was a slice of beautiful Americana (with a small town Burger King, an old timey theater and bank in the town square).  All this heightened the attack of the Gremlins as they wreak havoc on the town.  It's very interesting here to see this done, because they literally cause human deaths, but in such a way that it doesn't seem all that terrifying.  It's an odd balance.

The Summary:
Despite glaring plot holes, "Gremlins" is the quintessential 80s movie that has stood the test of time and still manages to delight audiences to this day.

The Score: A