You better watch out; you better not cry; you better not shout; I’m telling you why: the gremlins are coming to town! Yes, Joe Dante’s 1984 it Gremlins truly brings a new element of fear to the normally lovey-dovey genre that is the holiday movie. However, that is not to say that the film is just an average horror movie; it holds a special place in the ranks of films like Tremors and 8-Legged Freaks, films that mix elements of horror with just as many elements of comedy. The actual horror in the film is much tamer than most monster movies, but I admit to have been rather scared after the first time I saw it.
The film begins with a man names Randall Peltzer, who is out looking for a Christmas present for his son Billy (Zach Galligan). Peltzer eventually looks into a Chinese novelty shop where he finds the perfect gift, an adorable little creature called a mogwai. Unfortunately, he can’t convince the shopkeeper to sell it to him, but the owner’s grandson sells it to him without permission. Even the kid seems to know something is dangerous about the mogwai, as he gives Peltzer three very specific directions of things not to do with it.
All seems well when Billy receives Gizmo (the mogwai), but when he accidentally breaks the rules the little boy had given them, things begin to take a turn for the worst. Before Billy realizes it, not only has Gizmo multiplies, but his not-too-friendly duplicates have metamorphosed from cute little fuzz balls to vicious and mischievous fiends that run amuck in town. This may seem quite scary, but the good news is that throughout the whole thing Gizmo continues to brighten the show with his adorable actions and funny dialogue. So, while the film may contain an important lesson about not judging a book by its cover, it still lets the original Gizmo remain as the cute and loveable character he is in the beginning.
This film is very well animated for a 1980s monster movie. Even though the creatures are clearly too small to be guys in costumes and were too realistic for the CGI abilities of that decade, they look so realistic that it is hard to label them as robots either. The acting, however, was pretty average; nobody was really excellent at their parts, but nobody was downright bad at them either.
Entertainment: 9; Effects: 9; Acting: 6
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