Review of Gremlins (1984) by John M — 27 Jul 2014

Blast from the past. So a young man (Zach Galligan) gets a unique, cute pet for a Christmas gift, but when rules and responsibilities regarding caretaking get broken, the whole town stands to pay. This is one of those 80's classics that people are always shocked/offended to hear that I didn't grow up with; it was playing on a local screen's summer series, and I was glad that I took the time scratch this movie off that proverbial list.

While I wasn't familiar with this highly touted material, I was acquainted with one of director Joe Dante's previous work, Piranha, and I have to say: he's the perfect guy for something like this.

When you see the Steven Spielberg producer credit and start to get into the story, you totally think this is following the E.T. template, telling a straightforward boy-and-his-dog story. It isn't long before you realize how wrong you are, and it is doing much more than that.

The puppet effects are impressive enough, and the fact of the matter is that the cuteness of Gizmo helps for you to develop a connection with him; the small mannerisms that he is given allow for you to feel for him and want to see nothing but good things for the little guy.

It is also quite fun to watch the bad gremlins get into mischief, and it keeps one-upping itself with surprises on what vices they can get into. 80's movies either have the tendency of either dating themselves or charming with what they have to work with, and I would say that Gremlins does that latter.