Gremlins (1984)

Tagline: “Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous.”

UK Running Time: 106 minutes

Film Quality: 4/5
Gore Content: 2/5
Entertainment Value: 4.5/5
Originality: 3/5

Introduction

The early 80s saw a rise in the appeal of horror comedies, largely due to the success of films such as ‘An American Werewolf in London’ (see my review of John Landis’ classic by clicking here). The late 70s and early 80s had seen a few controversial horror movies subverting the season of goodwill so it was only a matter of time before somebody came along and combined the more seasonal elements of Christmas with the potential for a good scare. Step forward Joe ‘The Howling’ Dante who took Chris Columbus’ script and came up with a film that some felt struggled to decide whether its audience was young adults or older children but has, over time, become a much loved staple of Christmas viewing for us children of the 80s!

In a nutshell

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for his teenage son, Billy, an inventor comes across a backstreet store in Chinatown where he is introduced to a Mogwai – an unbelievably cute animal. Taking him home with three simple instructions, it becomes apparent that behind ‘Gizmo’s cute exterior lies the potential to terrorise and destroy if those three rules are not followed.

So what’s good about it?

Beautifully subverts Christmas

Dante brings a refreshingly anarchistic tone to Christmas movies which, other than those few subversive horror movies, had remained distinctly saccharine. Sending up the picture postcard view of suburban America at Christmas that we’ve seen a million times in films such as ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and ‘Miracle on 34th Street’, Dante shows us how easily that postcard can be ripped up to become more like ‘Pottersville’. The tone he brings to the film switches very quickly between light hearted and funny, such as the scene with the bar full of Gremlins and the cinema, to dark and frightening such as the scene featuring Billy’s Mum defending her kitchen and Phoebe Cates’s infamous and controversial speech – more on that later.

Relentlessly cute!

I love the creature design in this film. Every child in the world would want a Gizmo who must be the single cutest ‘puppet’ brought to screen both in terms of design, actions and voice acting. Conversely the Gremlins are very demonic with harsh and sharp features, slimy mouths full of teeth and horribly gruff voices. Whereas Gizmo is soft and fluffy, the Gremlins are harsh and scaly, they really do look quite frightening and capable of causing harm, as demonstrated during the attack on Billy’s mum.

The rules that were specified, don’t feed them after midnight, don’t get them wet and keep them away from bright light are brilliant. I would like to think that this isn’t a spoiler but the multiplying by water idea is inspired and catapults the film forward when one of them finds himself in the local swimming pool! The film has a fairy tale quality to it, beginning and ending in a ‘Once Upon a Time’ style narration which is reinforced by the typically fairy tale trope of a change happening after midnight, a la ‘Cinderella’. Those old Grimm Fairy Tales always had a bit of a gruesome edge to them, I’m sure they would have approved!

We can’t leave this section without mentioning Phoebe Cates’ (left) incredible monologue about why she doesn’t celebrate Christmas. It’s heart breaking and compulsive at the same time and delivered in such a bleak fashion that it doesn’t quite seem to fit in with the rest of the film. But there is a horrifically comic aspect to the tragedy in the tale which sums up the film as a whole and that’s why it was a great decision by Joe Dante who stood his ground against the studio execs who demanded that scene be removed. It’s one of the standout moments of the film and truly unforgettable.

And what about the bad?

I personally enjoy a little bit of a cynicism in my Christmas stories, so long as the atmosphere remains festive, but the film was roundly criticised for being TOO cynical. The world wasn’t used to anarchic seasonal films (particularly not when they were released to cinemas in June – who the hell made THAT decision?!?) like they perhaps are now (‘Elf’, ‘Bad Santa’, ‘Scrooged’, etc…). Having said that, likeable characters die, there is a lot of destruction and this didn’t go down too well with some viewers.

Fairly violent for a Christmas movie!

You have to say that it’s not always obvious who the film is aimed at. It’s not scary enough for young adults and older teens but too violent and scary for younger kids. It was one of the films, along with ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ that caused a change in the US rating system and it was lumbered with a ’15’ rating in the UK well before the ‘12’ rating came into effect. Despite all of that, and that it was released well out of season, it made a healthy profit of just over $150million return on an $11million budget so it certainly connected in a big way.

Any themes?

The film has plenty to say about the over-reliance on technology, in fact it comes across very much as anti-technology. Despite appearances the Mogwai is a foreign force of nature that we don’t understand, it’s been kept a secret from what you might call ‘The Western World’ but as soon as it is introduced to ‘our’ world, we contaminate and abuse it, more by design than purpose. When the shopkeeper from Chinatown arrives to pick up Gizmo he disapprovingly comments “You teach him to watch television?”, he’s acusing the Western world of trivialising one of nature’s wonders. Billy’s father is an inventor whose creations cause more trouble than they solve and, the Gremlins constantly cause electrical devices to fatally malfunction. Interestingly, the only kitchen gadgets that seem to work are the microwave and food blender, both used in the end to kill – the question is how are we using technology and is it all for our own benefit?

It’s interesting that all of Billy’s Dad’s inventions cause chaos, but the one thing he brings in that isn’t an invention (which they call ‘Gizmo’, a slang word for an electronic device) is the thing that causes the ultimate disruption. It’s due to the tampering with another electrical device, in this case the clock, that things start going horribly wrong.

I’ve mentioned before that the film flits quickly between light and dark moments. That’s what the Gremlins are, the dark side to Gizmo’s light, just as this film shows the dark side of Christmas (Phoebe’s story) against the picture postcard festive ideal. There are lots of examples of light versus dark such as the innocent and likeable Billy against the arrogant and cynical Gerald (a pre-Rosewood Judge Reinhold), the nasty, Potter-like Mrs Deagle who lovingly destroys families and Billy’s Mum who protects hers and of course the mayhem that ensues when western culture meets east.

Release history

No censorship problems but it was cut down for a TV version in the US which omits the three gory Gremlin deaths and some of the climax. In the UK there has never been an issue, however it has become a regular fixture of the Christmas TV schedules and you will see it in a censored version (missing Phoebe Cates’ monologue just in case it ruins anyone’s Christmas!) in a mid-afternoon slot.

Cultural Impact

It carried on the love for horror comedies, started by ‘American Werewolf’, and inspired a number of knock-offs, most notably ‘Critters’ and ‘Ghoulies’ as well as an inferior sequel which does have its fans. There was also a throwaway line in ‘The Goonies’ alluding to “animals that multiply with water”, both films of course featuring Corey Feldman. There has been talk about a third film, a sequel rather than a reboot, which would be interesting with the advancement of modern technology but no further word since the end of 2015. Scottish rockers Mogwai took their name from the loveable creatures and the movie itself has become a yuletime favourite and a feature of festive TV schedules.

Final Thoughts…

Great fun that has some very dark humour without skimping on the festive spirit and has everything from likeable characters to a genuinely scary creature terrorising a small town. Dante repeated the trick later in his career with the less impressive but equally enjoyable ‘Small Soldiers’, aiming that one firmly at the child market but this one is less easy to pin down. It has something for everyone, just make sure your children no longer believe in Father Christmas before letting them watch it!

Memorable Quotes

The beautiful final shot...

Futterman: “Goddamn foreign cars.”

Gizmo: “Bright light, bright light, bright light.”

Grandfather: “With Mogwai comes great responsibility.”

Grandfather: “To understand, one only has to listen.”

You’ll like this if you enjoyed…

‘Critters’, ‘Ghoulies’ (click here for review), ‘Small Soldiers’, ‘Scrooged’.