When Billy Peltzer is given a strange but adorable pet named Gizmo for Christmas, he inadvertently breaks the three important rules of caring for a Mogwai, and unleashes a horde of mischievous gremlins on a small town.
Part of Buddy the Elf, What's Your Favorite Color?
“I make the illogical logical.”
Never expose it to bright light, especially sunlight, which will kill it.
Christmas is nostalgia. Most everything about the season, from the movies to the carols to the decorations to the gifts, is about manufacturing memories. Some of those memories may have arisen from a crass or materialistic or cynical place, but once fogged up with the warm glow of the past, they become halcyon and sentimental. Ask what one envisions when they think of Christmas, and the answer is unlikely to be a pure, unfiltered moment from actual days past—it is probably a take informed by A Charlie Brown Christmas or Norman Rockwell or Courier…
I was going to write a lengthy, misty eyed, nostalgia tainted review about how amazing Gremlins is.
But we all know this, right? We all know it's mischief on film, perfect kiddie horror and so much fun.
So I'll just shut up and leave you with two words:
Dick Miller.
That is all.
Every time that I watch Gremlins I am deeply conflicted because I am always rooting for the gremlins even though I know the inevitable outcome.
They are so cute and hilarious and far more interesting and loveable than any of the human characters. I do like Gizmo because he is even more adorable and funny but I would rather that he just joined the side of the gremlins and stopped acting like such a pussy although it is pretty awesome when he hijacks a pink Barbie Corvette during the climax, my 2nd favorite part.
My favorite part is when all of the gremlins are having the time of their short little lives watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarves not…
It's hard to put into words how astonishingly perfect Joe Dante's Gremlins is. There is simply no horror-comedy that has even come close, except maybe Gremlins 2: The New Batch or The Howling; also directed by Joe Dante. He just understands how to craft a film, plain and simple. He understands that you need to show and not tell, he understands that unnecessary exposition is UNNECESSARY, and he understands that it doesn't hurt to scare the child audience. Truly, this is mean't for kids who want and can take a good scare, because some moments still freak me out.
Man, this review is messy. I mean, It's just so hard to talk about this utter masterpiece without going into endless…
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Film #1 of the March Madness 80s Sci-Fi Movie Challenge!
letterboxd.com/naughty/list/march-madness-80s-sci-fi-movie-challenge/
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It's not Christmas in my house until Mrs. Deagle learns to fly (the hard way) and household appliances become deadly weapons!
Director Joe Dante created the perfect holiday film by highlighting everything we love about Christmas and then he desercrates it royally! If Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives of Courier and Ives fame could see what Dante did to this picturesque small town all decked out with Christmas decorations and spirit they'd spin in their graves!
PG rated films like this and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom pushed the boundaries past their limits! (The infamous microwave scene) The increased violence, the darker tones accompanied…
I love how little shits anyone gave in the 80's. and honestly, more children need to die in movies
I looooove this film. It had been so long since I last saw it and I swear Gizmo just gets cuter and cuter. :)
I watched Gremlins and Gremlins 2 on loop as a kid. No exaggeration... I rented them both every other weekend. It's obviously impossible for me to separate nostalgia, but, if I force myself to take a step back, Gremlins is still a well structured, beautifully made piece of mid-80s entertainment. Yes, it's kind of a mess of tones as it swings from horror and intense bleakness (Phoebe Cates telling the story of her father's death is so grim) to silly sound effects and ridiculous borderline sketch comedy. But its tonal madness is part of its appeal. The puppetry and effects are top notch, and Dante builds wonderfully to an incredible, nail-biting finale. Gremlins stands alongside films like The Monster Squad and The Goonies as the best kid-friendly horror the 80s has to offer.
Frances Lee McCain is the scariest force in the movie. The kitchen massacre is the reason I couldn't make it through the first hour as a kid.
IMHO the personal story of the Peltzers doesn't mesh particularly well with the chaos of the gremlins. Their penchant for mass mayhem demands a city-sized stage, but the cast outside Billy's family (plus Kate) never feels quite developed enough to sell peak gremlin panic. Whatever happened to Corey Feldman and Judge Reinhold? They have bits at the beginning of the film but are barely there (Feldman) or just plain absent (Reinhold) in the second half.
Between the Gremlin getting microwaved and the Gremlin with a gun it was wild ride from start to finish.
Cannot beat an old school classic and as one of my mates stated in his review, how can you not love the Gremlins over-running the cinema sticking on Snow White and singing along to ''Heigh-Ho".
They broke the unbreakable rule! Everyone knows you don't cross the streams!!
Also, Gizmo is one of the cutest things ever put to screen. I would eat that Furby up.
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