|
Year
: 1984
Director:
Joe Dante
Starring:
Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates,
Hoyte Axton. |
Gremlins
What
were the rules for feeding them and getting them
wet - oh never mind I'm sure it wont matter.
Rand,
a struggling inventor, heads off to New York's
Chinatown to try and sell his inventions. Whilst
he is there he looks to pick up a Christmas present
for his grown up son Billy. In a mysterious old
mans shop he comes across a strange cute little
creature called a "Mogwai" its so cute that he
attempts to buy the Mogwai form the elderly shop
owner, but the shop owner refueses and no amount
of money will change the shop owners mind. Reluctantly
Rand leaves the shop empty handed, but is stopped
outside by the old mans grandson who explains that
the family need the money and he will secretly
sell him a Mogwai named Gizmo. He also tells
him of the strict rules that he must abide by -
keep the Mogwai away from bright light, even daylight can kill the mogwai;
don't get water on the mogwai; and, most importantly,
don't feed it after midnight. Rand agrees and takes
Gizmo home. Billy is delighted with Christmas present
and carefully looks after Gizmo, but when one of
Billy's friends accidentally spills some water
on the Mogwai it causes Gizmo to multiply and spawn
five new little Mogwai's. The five new mogwai's
are much more mischievous than Gizmo and they eventually
trick Billy into feeding them after midnight. The
five slowly start to pupate until they eventually
hatch into fully formed Gremlins, intent on destruction
and killing they head off to town for some fun.
Gremlins (and
its sequel) are films that you never tire of watching.
Very rarely has horror and comedy been so well
combined as here. The effects are superb and the
creatures look real (well I suppose I mean
they don't like like puppets). The manic cartoon
violence (admittedly dark edged) is absolutely
hilarious with so many great touches happening
throughout the frame, and fleeting references to
other movies that there is always something new
you pick up on with each viewing. With its humour,
its horror and its terrifically inventive visuals
it is remains on the best Christmas movies ever.
Although
Gremlins received
criticism for its level of violence, the film was
actually toned down from the original script. One
of the scenes in the original script but come from
the movie was a scene where the Gremlins stormed
a MacDonalds and ate all of the customers but wisely
left the burgers themselves well alone.
I
still remember when the film was first released
and every kid wanted a Mogwai for Christmas, and
how all their dads searched the length of breadth
of Chinatown trying to buy one for their kids.
If only they had heeded the advice - "Mogwai
not for sale".
Gremlins
placed at December 9th on our Films
guaranteed to make you feel Christmassy (UK edition).
Buy
this film and more from our Christmas
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