E's Reviews RETRO: Gremlins



You asked for it, and you got it!

GREMLINS was directed by legendary filmmaker Joe Dante, written by legendary writer/director Chris Columbus, and stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, a young Corey Feldman, and Hoyt Axton. While shopping around Chinatown looking for a gift for his son, a man stumbles across Gizmo, a Mogwai, and buys it for him but leaves 3 very important rules for him: keep out of direct sunlight because it can kill him, do not get him wet not even to drink, do not feed him after midnight...and as you'd expect, all 3 rules get broken within a 20 minute time span! And we have one of the coolest holiday films of all time! Let's get right down to it!

So the bad part of this movie...it ends. Nah, I'm kidding. The movie has some editing moments which kind of make me wonder what they were thinking. Also, some parts of the script are confusing. Like (spoilers ahead) why are the cops in this movie so absolutely terrible at their jobs? They see people being attacked, they don't even jump out to help or anything, they just run away...and cause an accident...probably killing people and themselves. We also needed way more Corey Feldman, the guy was a legend in the 80s and I would've loved to see more.

On to the good! It's a CHRISTMAS movie! This is a MUST SEE for me every holiday season. Christmas for me doesn't officially start until I see Gizmo zipping around a department store in a little RC car, or watch Hans Gruber fall off Nakatomi Plaza (Die Hard). The jokes in this film are great, I loved Randall Peltzer's inventions which always failed at what they were meant to be, but never failed to amuse. Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates are great in this movie, definitely a duo of 80s actors at the top of their game. The film has some really great puppetry, too, especially in the bar scene where they're dancing, drinking, and just having a rowdy time. Then the scene where they're watching Snow White? Classic! There's some really creepy moments in this film, too (especially for a kid...like I was first time I watched it). This movie gave me some really bad nightmares when I first laid eyes on it. It also has some strong feels, too (that last line Gizmo gives before leaving? Oh God I wept...)

This film is a classic for the holidays. The sequel, Gremlins 2 - The New Batch, is a decent film in it's own right, but doesn't stand up to the awesomeness of the original. The acting, the puppetry, the jokes, the fun...it's just one of those family friendly horror films that happens to also be a Christmas movie that anyone can enjoy. Highly recommend picking this up and watching it this holiday season!

Final Score: 9/10

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