Either the slyest satire of consumerism you will ever see or a filmmaker, reared on action figures and electric trains, acting out his childhood fantasies of being locked in a department store at night.
Gremlins (1984)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 40
Fresh: 31
Rotten:9
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: Joe Dante's hilariously funny, wickedly scary film is about a loveable, furry little Christmas gift that multiplies into many little Christmas gifts, with savage consequences. Rand Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is an inventor who hasn't... Joe Dante's hilariously funny, wickedly scary film is about a loveable, furry little Christmas gift that multiplies into many little Christmas gifts, with savage consequences. Rand Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is an inventor who hasn't successfully invented anything. But this Christmas he's bringing his family something special--a small, cuddly creature known as a mogwai. The little fella comes with three crucial instructions. He's not to be fed after midnight, he's not to get any direct light and he should never be given so much as a drop of water. If Rand and his son Billy (Zach Galligan) can adhere to these rules they can avoid the otherwise tragic consequences. Unfortunately, the rules are harder to stick to than it seems, and suddenly Billy finds himself with far too many "pets," all with big appetites. It's up to Billy and his girlfriend (Phoebe Cates) to stop the mischievous gremlins before they ruin Christmas for the residents of rural Kingston Falls. GREMLINS features a delightful combination of horror and humor that introduced Gizmo and his wild relatives to an entire generation of young fans. [More]
Starring: Zach Galligan, Hoyt Axton, Phoebe Cates, Judge Reinhold
Starring: Zach Galligan, Hoyt Axton, Phoebe Cates, Judge Reinhold, Frances Lee McCain, Corey Feldman, Polly Holliday, Dick Miller, Keye Luke
Director: Joe Dante
Director: Joe Dante
Screenwriter: Chris Columbus
Producer: Michael Finnell
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
Get This Movie
Release:
Sep 30, 1997
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Snap Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
- Dolby Digital Stereo - French
- Dolby Digital Stereo - Spanish
Additional Release Material:
- Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical
Interactive Features:
- Interactive Menus
- Scene Access
Text/Photo Galleries:
- Production Notes
Reviews for Gremlins
An unexpectedly successful skit on Spielberg/Disney movie culture -- that itself became something of a franchise.
What's confusing yet ultimately illuminating is the way his gremlins function as a free-floating metaphor, suggesting at separate junctures everything from teenagers to blacks to various Freudian suppressions.
Dante is perhaps the first filmmaker since Frank Tashlin to base his style on the formal free-for-all of animated cartoons; he is also utterly heartless.
Yes, Dante gleefully trashes cliches and sentimental Capra-esque notions, but one should not forget this movie was given a "PG" rating and cynically aimed to draw an audience of small children who would no doubt be terrorized by this myth-shattering film.
Taking a second look back at Joe Dante's career, I realize he was actually one of the most interesting American directors working.
Dante gleefully sinks his teeth into the kind of fluffy, sugary, sickly small town fantasy beloved of his pal and sometime producer Spielberg.
At the level of Serious Film Criticism, it's a meditation on the myths in our movies: Christmas, families, monsters, retail stores, movies, boogeymen. At the level of Pop Moviegoing, it's a sophisticated, witty B movie.
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