Gremlins

This acts as more of a refresher on a film I had seen bits and pieces of as a kid, but this film does indeed rock. People always forget how much this and other movies pushed the PG rating to the point of adding the PG-13 rating. Now, if anything has more than a few curse words and a mild splatter of blood, it gets the PG-13 stamp, but this movie has squishy kills, violent deaths, and a surprising amount of bad language. As a horror movie, this film sometimes flubs the objective, but as a horror comedy this film exceeds expectations and earns its right as a classic!

PLOT: A classic turned great.

The plot is classic "teen finds a mystical creature and faces consequences" plot from the 1980's, which is dated now but feels fresh here as a result of two major factors. One is the sharp writing of each character and second is the dark almost horror tone this movie takes. Many of these movies went too PG to be fun, but this one pushed everything beyond the rating to the point where PG-13 became a rating shortly after. It's a classic trope-y plot built on solid grounds, definitely a lot to love.

CHARACTERS: Loveable and endearing. And so are the people!

This is where the movie really earns its stripes. (HA!) While I would be daffy to even state that any character here is weak, I can state something I REALLY appreciate about this movie: it's willingness to portray the family as not just happy with each other, but never once breaking away from that facade. Too many people feel the need to break a family apart for a third act reunion which is by far the worst cliche in modern history to me. These characters feel more human due to their connections and the romance is cute and well-done. Additionally, huge props to the voice acting of all the Mogwai, especially Howie Mandel (yes, that Howie Mandel) as Gizmo. His adorable squeaks sell the naivety of such a creature.

SHOTS: Never stands out, but great!

This movie does fairly well in this regard. Although there's nothing standing out (minus the death of one greedy tenant whose death made me roll with laughter), the film does have beautiful color work and showcases a small town with several stellar sets and fun camera angles that portray the animatronics wonderfully. I'll be discussing those in a different section this time, but the amount of detail and work made by the team to work these sets and build especially for animatronics must have been a hassle.

SOUND: Similar, yet different...

This movie does fall a bit into the classic issue of most 1980's movies: the soundtracks were fairly samey and cutesy in these movies. While I like this movie's soundtrack, it does sound far less scary than it should, which is likely the point since this is a HORROR COMEDY, not just a horror film. That being said, the music is still great, done by the guy who did Rambo, Planet of the Apes, and Alien. The nods to E.T. are also there considering the composer did that movie too, so that might explain the similarities to other similar movies.

WRITING: Now I have another reason to love Gremlins.

This is by far the film's second strongest point. The writing does show off good character work and builds upon the idea of the mysticism of these little creatures by never really explaining where they come from nor what their origin is. It's well-done, really. Also, the writing is perfectly charming when it wants to be and also very dark when it needs to be. There's a dark joke near the end of the movie that builds itself up for a solid minute as a character gives a speech about their past and the joke is so well-done because you don't even realize what it's building up to. It's dark, funny, and works on repeat viewings. Really good stuff.

CONS: Strangely enough...

I hate to riff on a film for issues, but sometimes these things do build up. And where this film falls flat for me is the satire. I love satire in films, but this one really does not do it well enough to justify the jokes about consumerism. I feel as though the second one does this much stronger, but we're not here to compare yet. I also feel that any legitimate horror is underplayed because the Mogwai just aren't that scary to me. I hate to be mean, but this film isn't scary. Sorry, horror movie.

LITTLE THINGS:

I decided to add this section to the points for movies that feel like they deserve recognition for a particular detail. This movie in particular deserves huge props for not only its design artists but also its Mogwai animatronic operators and creators. These puppets (especially Gizmo) were nightmarish to work with in the first movie, Gizmo providing multiple malfunctions and breaks due to the small size of his puppetry. This shows in the amount of time Gizmo is hidden or put away, a detail you'll see on repeat viewings. Kudos where it's due!

VERDICT:

This film overall delivers a very funny yet not scary experience for a black horror comedy. Unlike Scream (a film that blends horror and comedy masterfully), this film wasn't able to use any particularly scary imagery, but does deliver a dark and goofy tone throughout that definitely leaves a stronger impact. The characters are endearing and likeable while also feeling like real people. Sometimes, this can be a bit much (racist folk near the beginning) but I overall enjoyed the flick. This might seem like a weird rating for a film I mostly praised, but I do feel as though it earned this. Tune in soon for Gremlins 2!

SCORE: 8/10