Since it is Christmas time, let’s talk about one on the greatest Christmas films of all time. No, not Miracle on 34th Street, not Its a Wonderful Life, or even the king of the Christmas movies, Die Hard! Nope, we’re talking about 1984’s Gremlins.
Directed by Joe Dante from a screenplay by Chris Columbus, and produced by Steven Spielberg, Gremlins stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, and Hoyt Aston. It relays the tale of a special Christmas gift and what happens when you don’t take care of it.
The story begins with a gadget salesman (Axton) who is looking for a special gift for his son. During his search, he finds one at a store in Chinatown. At first, the shopkeeper ( Keye Luke) is reluctant to sell him the `mogwai.’ Being a good salesman, Axton gets the storekeeper to sell it to him. However, it comes with several warnings: never expose him to bright light, water, or to feed him after midnight. Seems simple enough, right?
Of course, ALL of this happens. The result is a gang of mischievous and sometimes evil gang of Gremlins that decide to tear up the town on Christmas Eve. This leaves only Billy (Galligan), his girlfriend Kate (Cates), and the Mogwai Gizmo (voiced by Howie Mandel) to defeat the Gremlins.
In the end, the storekeeper returns to collect the Mogwai and to chastise Billy and his father for not heeding his warning. He does admit that one day Billy would be ready for the responsibility of taking care of Gizmo.
While the humans were the “stars” of Gremlins, they were not the real stars of the film. The real breakout stars were the puppets that filled the roles of Gizmo and the Gremlins. As aforementioned, Howie Mandel supplied the voice of Gizmo. The multi-talented Frank Welker provided the voice for many of the Gremlins. This was before CGI was the go to technology so many of these were actual hand controlled puppets. Gizmo was Baby Yoda before Baby Yoda. Every kid wanted a Mogwai.
Even after almost 40 years, Gremlins holds up pretty well. As much as films are a slave to the CGI way of doing effects, Gremlins still shows what could be done with more standard effect methods. It still is a fun romp and darn if that Gizmo isn’t cute. I need to find one and put him next to Baby Yoda…if I had one. For just plain fun, I give Gremlins 4 out of 5.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
