GremlinsChristmas comes but once a year; for the sleepy town of Kingston Falls, even that may be too much after the events of Joe Dante's Gremlins. Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) gets a new pet for Christmas from his inventor dad, having recently returned from hocking his wares in Chinatown. But Billy's pet isn't just a dog or cat, it is a "mogwai", a diminutive little creature which loves television, comic books, and driving toy cars--an infectiously cute little guy named "Gizmo". And things might have stayed perfect for Billy and Gizmo, had it not been for those pesky three rules.
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When we first meet Billy's dad--and our narrator--Rand (Hoyt Axton), he is looking to pick up a gift for his son, something special, by visiting a secretive shop in Chinatown. The proprietor, a venerable Chinese man, is disinterested in Rand's attempts to buy something he cannot understand. Although Rand is not a bad man, his behavior underscores one of the fundamental conceits of Gremlins, that sometimes we believe ourselves entitled to something, even though we lack the responsibility to control it. In this way, Rand--and others like him, like Mr. Hanson (Glynn Turman)--are like children playing with fire, unwilling to listen to the sage advice of those who understand the gravity of something like the mogwai. Rand is the archetypal American: enterprising, hard-working, but also apt to ignore what he doesn't want to hear, and throw his money around to get his way, a dangerous combination that echoes holiday consumerism. The end result of this kind of arrogance is evidenced in the chaos which the gremlins unleash on his little town of Kingston Falls. There is also a sense of foreign paranoia in Gremlins, not just from the lack of understanding between the American father and the Chinese shopkeeper, but on the part of Murray Futterman (Dick Miller), who after a night out drinking at the local watering hole, proclaims to Billy and to the young lady Billy pines for, Kate (Phoebe Cates), that within even the best American made parts are little gremlins, sabotaging the machinery and causing everything to go screwy...and yet, in the aftermath of the invasion of these "little green men", maybe that paranoia isn't entirely unfounded; after all, "mogwai" in Cantonese translates roughly as "monster". Gizmo himself is embarrassingly cute, well animated and emotive; this makes it all the more shocking when we realize just what the mogwai are capable of becoming with the right circumstances.
And what is it that makes the adorable, little creatures like Gizmo turn into disgusting, green monsters, with fangs, beady red eyes, and a penchant for wanton viciousness and havoc? Well, that comes back to those three rules, specifically the last one about "not feeding them after midnight". But why would that rule have any real physiological bearing on the mogwai, compared to the unlikely--but reasonable--first two rules, about the lethal effects of sunlight and the effects of water on them? In reality, there doesn't seem to be any convincing reason for the third rule causing such a devastatingly wild transformation, but I suspect that it has to do with this rule representing the most flagrant disregard for the responsibilities of raising the mogwai. Even though the transformations come after relatively innocent mistakes, it is a kind of neglect, one which should be immediately evident to any pet owner who understands that you must take pains to prevent your pets from getting into things which might actually cause them serious harm. What sets Gremlins apart from many movies is that it is a pretty even combination of a Christmas story and a horror movie, without being too much of one or the other. Set amid the halcyon town of Kingston Falls--which bears no small resemblance to Bedford Falls of It's a Wonderful Life--the sense that the setting could deteriorate into the a veritable war zone is unconscionable. But the town is expecting yet another peaceful, "Norman Rockwell" Christmas, with all of the comforting cliches of small town America. Not everyone is bursting with the Christmas spirit, like Kate, who tells Billy in a moment of desperation why she hates Christmas, a horrifying account which further reinforces the anachronistic juxtaposition of the seasonal festivities and horror. As the monsters start coming out of their shells, Billy and others must try to fend off the creatures, who show no remorse in their sadistic attacks--although it should be said that Billy's mom (Frances Lee McCain) proves that sometimes, a mom in the kitchen around Christmas can be deadlier than a ninja. Billy himself is forced to step up to the plate to fight off the gremlins--led by their vicious leader, Stripe--to prevent them from destroying all he loves. Billy is struggling to work his day job, with a passion for cartooning, drawing dragons and barbarians in his parent's attic where he lives. When he finds himself in the YMCA with a sword, hunting an actual goblin, suddenly the fantasy doesn't feel like so much fun anymore.
Recommended for: "Rockin' Ricky" fans of comedy and horror, edging more toward dark comedy, as though a monster movie actually invaded a Christmas movie. Probably the kind of movie to avoid showing to really young children, as I'm not too proud to say that it terrified me as a child, when I was but a few years of age.
And what is it that makes the adorable, little creatures like Gizmo turn into disgusting, green monsters, with fangs, beady red eyes, and a penchant for wanton viciousness and havoc? Well, that comes back to those three rules, specifically the last one about "not feeding them after midnight". But why would that rule have any real physiological bearing on the mogwai, compared to the unlikely--but reasonable--first two rules, about the lethal effects of sunlight and the effects of water on them? In reality, there doesn't seem to be any convincing reason for the third rule causing such a devastatingly wild transformation, but I suspect that it has to do with this rule representing the most flagrant disregard for the responsibilities of raising the mogwai. Even though the transformations come after relatively innocent mistakes, it is a kind of neglect, one which should be immediately evident to any pet owner who understands that you must take pains to prevent your pets from getting into things which might actually cause them serious harm. What sets Gremlins apart from many movies is that it is a pretty even combination of a Christmas story and a horror movie, without being too much of one or the other. Set amid the halcyon town of Kingston Falls--which bears no small resemblance to Bedford Falls of It's a Wonderful Life--the sense that the setting could deteriorate into the a veritable war zone is unconscionable. But the town is expecting yet another peaceful, "Norman Rockwell" Christmas, with all of the comforting cliches of small town America. Not everyone is bursting with the Christmas spirit, like Kate, who tells Billy in a moment of desperation why she hates Christmas, a horrifying account which further reinforces the anachronistic juxtaposition of the seasonal festivities and horror. As the monsters start coming out of their shells, Billy and others must try to fend off the creatures, who show no remorse in their sadistic attacks--although it should be said that Billy's mom (Frances Lee McCain) proves that sometimes, a mom in the kitchen around Christmas can be deadlier than a ninja. Billy himself is forced to step up to the plate to fight off the gremlins--led by their vicious leader, Stripe--to prevent them from destroying all he loves. Billy is struggling to work his day job, with a passion for cartooning, drawing dragons and barbarians in his parent's attic where he lives. When he finds himself in the YMCA with a sword, hunting an actual goblin, suddenly the fantasy doesn't feel like so much fun anymore.
Recommended for: "Rockin' Ricky" fans of comedy and horror, edging more toward dark comedy, as though a monster movie actually invaded a Christmas movie. Probably the kind of movie to avoid showing to really young children, as I'm not too proud to say that it terrified me as a child, when I was but a few years of age.