Gremlins (1984)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Joe Dante

Writer:

Chris Columbus (written by)

Release Date:

8 June 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous.

Plot:

A boy inadvertantly breaks 3 important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.

Plot Keywords:

Pet | Midnight | Small Town | Monster | Gremlin

Awards:

7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Hoyt Axton	...	Randall Peltzer
John Louie	...	Chinese Boy
Keye Luke	...	Grandfather (Mr. Wing)
Don Steele	...	Rockin' Ricky Rialto (voice)
Susan Burgess	...	Little Girl
Scott Brady	...	Sheriff Frank
Arnie Moore	...	Alex
Corey Feldman	...	Pete Fountaine
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Mr. Anderson
Zach Galligan	...	Billy Peltzer
Dick Miller	...	Murray Futterman
Phoebe Cates	...	Kate Beringer
Polly Holliday	...	Ruby Deagle
Donald Elson	...	Man on Street
Belinda Balaski	...	Mrs. Joe Harris

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Iceland:10 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Ireland:15 | UK:15 | Netherlands:12 (DVD version) | South Korea:All | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Netherlands:AL | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

When Billy calls home to tell his mother to get out of the house right after the Gremlins hatch, one of the creatures reaches up to pull out the phone line and says "Phone home, caca", paraphrasing the famous line from Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Billy carries Gizmo to the bathroom to bandage his head, Gizmo is visible in the bathroom, already sitting on the counter.

Quotes:

Gizmo: [to Billy's Dog] Bye-bye, Woof Woof.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dog Soldiers (2002)

Soundtrack:

MAKE IT SHINE

Best of the small creature attack movies.

After this movie there were several other movies that tried to capitalize on the success of this movie. For the most part though they failed to live up to the energy and fun of this movie. Heck, not even the sequel of this one had the energy of this movie. Here we have a guy getting a pet as an early xmas gift, a cute creature called a Mogway. It however, does have a few problems, as it needs special care. One thing you can't do to it is get it wet. Well Billy does (that is the guy who got it). This breeds more of the little critters, and they are harmless enough at first as well. Then they are fed after midnight and this turns them into Gremlins. This new form is a beer drinking, candy eating, mischief machine that isn't above killing. Most of the original batch is killed off in a gruesome kitchen scene, but the leader, Stripe, gets away and dives into a ycma swimming pool, so the whole town gets overrun by the little monsters. This movie is very funny and enjoyable to watch. Even though the Gremlins do kill, this movie never gets as dark as some of the copycats, or too goofy like some of them do. It ends up being a well-made movie that is fun to watch.