In World War II it was often said that mechanical failures on aircraft were due to gremlins having mischievously damaged them. It was this folklore which later inspired one of the many classic episodes from the original Twilight Zone, “Terror at 20,000 Feet” which starred William Shatner prior to his role in a certain science fiction series. Fast-forward a few more decades and the gremlins were back in the limelight once again this time thanks to Joe Dante and Chris Columbus who would provide a different approach to the creatures and give audiences a classic film that is still extremely popular.
Gremlins finds travelling salesman Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) trying to find a last-minute Christmas gift for his son Billy (Zach Galligan) in Chinatown. In one store he has seen a small creature called a mogwai but despite his efforts, the owner tells him that the creature isn’t for sale. The owner’s grandson however finds Randall later and sells the mogwai and it comes with three specific rules; it must stay out of sunlight, it must never come into contact with water, and it should never be fed after midnight. Billy names the mogwai Gizmo and the creature is incredibly intelligent but it isn’t long before one of the rules is broken when Billy’s young neighbor Pete (Corey Feldman) accidentally spill water on Gizmo. A number of small, furry balls pop out of Gizmo and soon transform into other mogwai. These however are very different. They have a mean streak and take pleasure in bullying and tormenting Gizmo. They soon find a way to get fed after midnight as well and make yet another transformation into gremlins and proceed to terrorize the small town.
I had always assumed that for the film, mogwai was simply created for the film to give it a little flavor however upon doing research for the review I found that in fact it is a part of Chinese folklore. The film takes some creative liberties with the myth to create a more family friendly story. A mogwai is actually a demon in folklore, not the cute, cuddly creature we see presented. Gizmo and even the gremlins would prove to be popular enough that not only would they receive various merchandise after the movie initial release, they pop up from time to time with Gizmo having been made into a Furby in 1999 and a few years ago both Gizmo and Stripe were one of the number of character packs for LEGO Dimensions.
Gremlins is a blend of comedy and horror. To an extent it is a family film as well as a one which could be thought of as a holiday movie since it is set during Christmas, but much like the mogwai, it’s also a movie that should come with a warning. I remember seeing Gremlins back in my youth and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was something I believed my daughter would also enjoy and in particular, I felt that Gizmo would be the huge draw for her. While sitting through the movie though, I had forgotten that Gremlins is in fact a little violent especially once the other mogwai have changed into Gremlins. Although any bloodshed isn’t done as you’d expect, the Gremlins happen to have green blood, it can still be slightly gory such as the scene where one of the gremlins is stuck in a blender resulting in the kitchen being painted with green blood. Even the ending scene where we finally discover why they shouldn’t be exposed to sunlight is graphic and Dante throws in a jump scare right at the end which is actually a nice touch. However, despite the violence and gore my daughter ultimately loves the movie even with the scarier moments.
The movie itself follows the usual horror guidelines. Our characters are presented with a list of things which can be simply enough considered “don’t do this” and we all know immediately that they are doing to be broken somewhere along the line. This isn’t quite the same as the crazy old man telling a group of teens to stay away from a certain camp ground, but typically in horror anyone knows that once the ground rules have been established, it is a very brief time before it cascades into huge problems. The movie establishes these rules quickly before giving the audience ample time to become enamored with Gizmo. The movie presents him as it should; a cute, cuddly, mysterious creature that just about anyone would want to have as a pet. It’s not simply because of his exotic nature but considering his intellect, the mogwai are the perfect pet to have around to train and play with. The rules however keep coming into question. Why is it so important to follow them?
The first, don’t get them wet, results in a very painful moment for Gizmo. The poor mogwai cries in pain as the small balls appear on his back after he’s accidentally exposed to water. The arrival of new mogwai initially seems welcomed until their true nature is revealed and they aren’t anything like Gizmo. These would probably mirror the mogwai in Chinese folklore much better. We also see early on that sunlight hurts Gizmo so the movie introduces a bit of foreshadowing. The new mogwai are pranksters and the script works in the idea that they will sabotage electronics, a trick they use to get fed after midnight and given their intellect, it’s understood that they knew what the next phase was of their evolution. They merely had to do what they could to reach that point.
The final act of the movie features the Gremlins in a number of scenarios that are humorous and slight scary. They run loose through the town, terrorizing and even killing some of the residents. Any deaths of human character however are implied and done offscreen so there won’t be anything to traumatize younger viewers. Some may notice as well that the town the film is set in looks very familiar. The location known as Courthouse Square is a part of the Universal backlot and has been seen in things such as Back to the Future, To Kill a Mockingbird, Leave it to Beaver and an episode of the original Twilight Zone. It’s a very recognizable filming location for film buffs although today, it’s probably most often connected to the Back to the Future trilogy which mad great use of the facades.
The 4K release of Gremlins marks the 35th anniversary of the film. Unfortunately, the release doesn’t include any new features which weren’t already seen on the blu-ray release that came out a while back and these are all still presented in standard definition. The extras include:
Audio Commentaries
Additional Scenes
Behind the Scenes
Trailers
Gremlins may not make the top of the list when it comes to holiday films, but it’s still a great horror comedy from the 80’s which has become a classic in its own right. Again, some parents may want to use their best judgement when showing younger children the movie but I think if my daughter can handle it, it should be okay for most children. There has also been talk about a third Gremlins movie in the works which means that we probably haven’t seen the last of Gizmo and the gremlins and with the fact that there still seems to be merchandise that pops up in stores from time to time, especially around the holidays. Gremlins getting the 4K upgrade is perfect and another great choice for high definition film buffs.
*This 4K release was provided by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment for review purposes.
Mike is the resident reviewer for Couponing to Disney and his own site Underland Online. He has a young daughter and is obsessed with Haunted Mansion and all things Disney. You can read Mike’s complete bio here.