(This review was originally published at www.Zombie-keeper.com)
Gremlins (1984)
Director: Joe Dante
Stars: Zach Galligan, Pheobe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Dick Miller
The Story: An inventor buys his son a pet for Christmas that can potentially multiply and create an army of little green monsters.
Peltzer's the name. Rand Peltzer (Hoyt Axton). Fantastic ideas for a fantastic world. He makes the illogical logical; and he has a story, unlike any story ever told.
On his way home from a convention, Randall ends up in Chinatown on a search to find his son the ultimate Christmas gift. There, he meets a young Chinese boy that tells him of a shop his Grandfather owns, and promises him every thing. Randall accepts the offer and follows the boy through Chinatown to the shop. Upon arrival, the inventor's enthusiasm begins to drift a bit, due to the locale and dirty appearance of the underground antique boutique. However, he still steps inside to see if there might just be something waiting to be found.
Randall walks slowly through the dimly lit shop gazing at old and dusty items, looking for something that may grab his son's interest. After feeling unsuccessful in his search, he approaches the back of the shop. There, behind an antique table stands Mr. Wing (Keye Luke), the Chinese boy's Grandfather. Randall figures if he can't find anything for his son, he can at least market one of his own items to the old man. So he presents "The Bathroom Buddy", a neat little Swiss army type device that holds every bathroom component a person could need while away from home. Uninterested, the snowy haired man puffs on his pipe and stares on at Randall’s live demonstration sales tactics.
Midway through his story, the inventor is distracted by a small singing voice coming from one of the darkest isles in the shop. He pays little attention, and continues about "The Bathroom Buddy", until he is distracted again. At this point, Randall must go see where the singing is coming from. This is when he meets the Mogwai, a seemingly ideal gift for his son. He strolls back up to Mr. Wing proudly, plopping a hundred dollar bill down on the table. Mr.Wing rejects the money, so Randall plops down another hundred-dollar bill, but the old man insists that the Mogwai is not for sale; even though the Chinese boy promised everything in the shop has a price. Secretly, the boy tells Mr. Peltzer to meet him around the back of the shop with the money. Thus, the Mogwai is given to him, with three very strict instructions...
Keep the Mogwai out of bright light, especially sunlight… it will kill him.
Do not get the Mogwai wet. He cannot consume water and most certainly cannot take a bath. Stinky, thirsty Mogwai= good.
And the most important rule of all. No matter how much the Mogwai cries and begs, never feed him after midnight.
Jumping forward a bit, Randall arrives home for the holidays to his loving wife (Frances Lee McCain) and Billy (Zach Galligan), his son. And do not forget the family dog, Barney (Mushroom), as he is actually a strong character in the movie. Right at the front door of the Peltzer house, Randall hands his son a big box layered in red Christmas wrapping, telling him it must be opened early. So they move to the living room, where Dad dims the lights and Billy unwraps his present, finding an old wooden box. Not knowing what to think, he opens up the box and leans back a bit. The Mogwai pops up quickly, startling the Peltzers (with the exception of Randall, of course). Then, slowly, two adorable little paws grasp the edge of the box, and Billy's new pet (voiced by Howie Mandel) introduces himself. Gizmo is the name, and pretty much, being cute is his game.
Billy experiences some complications with the rules to abide by with Gizmo. For starters, his friend Pete (Corey Feldman) manages to spill a jar of water on the poor Mogwai, which causes the creature to multiply. Hmm, that does not sound so bad! More cute little critters (which Randall imagines could be the ultimate Peltzer sales product) that could make the family dog a poor man’s pet. Only these new Mogwais are not quite like Gizmo, save for simple appearance. They are more mischievous and demanding, and one with a white streak of hair on his head immediately becomes the leader (which is later appropriately named Stripe). Secondly, Billy drops the ball when feeding the new Mogwais some leftover chicken after midnight (not really his fault since he was bamboozled by the mini green devils). This is when the title of the movie takes meaning. "Gremlins" now sheds its false skin profile of a straight up family Christmas film, and becomes a devilishly fun Holiday trip through Joe Dante's cartoonish hell.
This film quickly became a “watch every year” deal for me. "Gremlins" is the movie guilty of putting an end to my annual viewing of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It had such a big impact on me at an early age, and quite honestly was a front door to my love for horror films. It is also fun to come back to it now and notice all of Dante's homage and nods to nearly every genre, even to films of his own (look for the infamous smiley face from The Howling, located on a refrigerator door; and if you study closer, you can spot a drawing of a Piranha on a notepad in Billy's room). In addition, it has an authentic Christmas look and feel to it, which clashes so bravely with a horror theme, if done correctly.
The movie consists of almost all sets, even Kingston Falls itself. Dante was going for a timeless look with a picture postcard town. It actually has a great look to it. An early scene in the movie with Billy rushing to work with his dog Barney quickly represents Kingston Falls as one of those "everybody knows everybody" towns. Nearly every person Billy passes on the snow-filled street says hello. The wonderful characters given life by a wonderful cast makes "Gremlins" feel very down to earth. The characters and setting make the small town theme extremely realistic. Dante is genius at giving an expert setup in his films that usually lead to some entirely different atmosphere and the halfway mark of this particular gem is a perfect example.
The script for "Gremlins", created by Chris Columbus, went through a numerous amount of changes before it became fully realized. It was actually never even meant to be made (at least not by a major motion picture company); the script was just more or less a resume for Columbus. His idea was originally a much darker, less family-esque approach. Gremlin carnage took a larger role (killing Mrs. Peltzer and rolling her head down the stairs in the "cocoon hatching" scene was one thought. Another was a Gremlin feasting sequence, and Barney the dog was the main course). Probably the biggest change the story went through was the continuation of Gizmo's character. Initially, when the new batch of Mogwai evolve into Gremlins, Gizmo became Stripe. Steven Spielberg (Executive Producer) gave a big hell no to this. Rightfully so, the first 45 minutes of the story is made for the viewer to invest a huge liking to the furry and adorable critter. Still, it would have certainly been interesting to see a vile and gory version of this whacky perception. I can hardly complain with the finished product, though, because it still ends up being viciously delightful. Moreover, Gizmo gets to hang around for a classic finale in this PG rated monster opus.
Speaking of the rating, "Gremlins" was the first film that helped birth the PG-13 rating, for films not quite nasty enough for R, but too mature for PG (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was the second film that put this effect into play). So actually, Gremlins was the one of the last movies to get away with gore that exceeded the level of parental guidance standards. Chris Walas, along with crew, created the Mogwai and Gremlin designs, with a budget a lot lower than what they needed, and still pulled off the job adequately. The "hatching" scene is a brilliant homage to Invasion of the Body Snatchers and even Alien, but has a style all its own. The cocoons rip apart, more than hatch. A bright florescent green gleams through the rip holes of the egg, while hideous arms with long claws help the Gremlins fight their way out of the "pupil" stage. The slime factor works this scene (along with the score), oozing down the eggs, all over Billy's bedroom floor.
The puppeteer work in this movie is amazing. All of the cut-away (many Mogwai and Gremlins were designed to execute a variety of different actions. So when you see Billy sit Gizmo down and the camera hesitates a few seconds before panning down, it's because off camera another Gizmo puppet is waiting to be thrown in to provide other movements) scenes are more noticeable now than they were 20 years ago, but they were done with enough wit to not take away from the film. The budget only permitted one major stop motion sequence (which I feel is the most disappointing FX moment in the movie), so Walas and crew had no choice other than making a Muppets horror film. Other memorable FX moments include Gizmo's multiplying scene, Mrs. Deagle's hatred for Christmas Carolers, Mayhem at Kingston Falls Y.M.C.A, The Peltzer kitchen scene (which is perhaps the best horror themed element in the movie), and a truly gory finale which is hardly child oriented. "Gremlin's" gets an A+ in the FX category.
Many of the Gremlin and Mogwai scenes wouldn't have been nearly as effective without the help of Jerry Goldsmith's musical score, which gives the movie more of a cooky personality. The soothing and soft theme for Gizmo totally builds up what the character is all about, as does the theme for the Gremlins. Its circus music gone horribly wrong, creating the perfect level of dynamics to demonstrate the evil mischief of the little green devils.
Most performances from the cast are head on with realism, but the two that really shine are Zach Galligan and Pheobe Cates. Strangely, I do not find Galligan to be a good actor, hardly at all. The reason I feel he worked so well in this picture was because of his off-screen infatuation with Pheobe. The friendship really bleeds through the script, and they just seem very comfortable working together as Billy and Kate. Cates is given al strong character driven moment in “Gremlins”, when she explains to Billy why she does not celebrate Christmas. This was a controversial scene, going back to the fact that the movie was merchandised for children and marketed for families.
Hoyt Axton also gives a commendable performance as Mr. Peltzer. Although he never really shows any open disappointment with himself, some scenes hint that he is bothered by his inept performances as a relatively failed inventor. Dick Miller is excellent as Murray Futterman- a closet alcoholic that has an open hatred for any foreign products. One of his thicker moments happens after he leaves Dorry's Tavern in a drunken stupor babbling about little green monsters during the days of WWII. This is a nod to an old Looney Tunes cartoon. Polly Holiday plays Mrs. Deagle- the money hungry evil witch of Kingston Falls. When there is profit to be made, starving children and families without money for Christmas does not faze her in the least bit. Frank Welker and Howie Mandel also provide the cutest of voices to the meanest for Gizmo and the Gremlins. And, Mushroom the dog gives Barney’s character a look of wonderment for every emotion displayed in the movie. Performances all around are good, and all the character interaction has great pacing, due to Dante’s gleeful retrospect in the background of almost every scene.
If I were a nitpicker, I could point out a few things that discourage the casual fan to these types of movies. Trying to view "Gremlins" on a "this could be possible" perspective is nonsense. The three main rules for correct Mogwai care alone hold more errors than I care to count. It is just meant to be fun, which is what movies of this caliber should be all about. Evil fun at times, yes, but fun nonetheless. The only real problem I have that actually unnerves me about the movie is Judge Reinhold's character. He is built up early on in the movie as a possible bad guy, and could even potentially be a threat to Zach and Kate's relationship. His haughty persona never truly comes into play, though, as he disappears before the halfway point of the film, and his cut scene (which provides very little ambiance) is only edited into the picture when shown on local channels. Another questionable element is Billy’s character, whom looks to be a high school graduate, happens to be best friends with a 10-year-old Corey Feldman, whom dresses as a Christmas tree.
Overall, "Gremlins" is a way above average Christmas horror film that has ultimately stood the test of time. It contains just the correct dosage of 1980's clichés that keeps it on level, instead of going overboard. This comes highly recommended, and could easily be welcomed in a genre fans collection. It is just simply a fun movie to watch over the holidays that brings back a ton of memories. However, before popping this baby in your player, turn on all the lights, check all the closets and cupboards, look under all the beds. 'Cause ya never can tell, there just might be a Gremlin in your house.
