Gremlins (1984)
November 28, 2017 10:14 PM - Subscribe

A boy inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
posted by the man of twists and turns (22 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I wish Phoebe Cates had stayed in the business.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:30 AM on November 29, 2017


This movie was omnipresent in 1984, but I never was able to see it until I was 10. The various toy tie-ins, storybooks and novelizations really just don't convey how much damn fun the movie was—in fact, I'd say they make the film seem like much more of a horror movie than it actually is.
posted by infinitewindow at 11:31 AM on November 29, 2017


I have somehow never seen this and I didn't know it was coming back to theaters. There are showtimes near me and I will try to go. I get the feeling there will be quite a few "Oh, that's where that's from" moments when I finally do see it.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 11:41 AM on November 29, 2017


I adored this film as a kid and it's one of those rare films I've been able to revisit as an adult and love even more. (Ghostbusters is another.)
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:52 PM on November 29, 2017 [1 favorite]


Kate: "The worst thing that ever happened to me was on Christmas. Oh, God. It was so horrible."

Ahh sweet memories. The late 80's When *severe* tone whiplash in a kids film (?) wasn't considered even remotely odd.
posted by Faintdreams at 1:12 PM on November 29, 2017 [2 favorites]


Wake me up when we get to cinematic masterpiece Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
posted by guiseroom at 3:15 PM on November 29, 2017 [4 favorites]


I saw this again at a film festival last year, and braced myself for what I expected would be an annoying instance of a woman in an action movie but actually the mom held her own pretty well. Nice to be pleasantly surprised by older media.
posted by rmd1023 at 5:07 PM on November 29, 2017


I loved this movie when I was a kid. I don't think I saw it in the theater. I definitely saw it on HBO. It has all the things a pre-teen boy loves. Monsters, a mysterious shop-keeper, mayhem. Simple, easily broken rules. The music really stands out for me.

It would be so weird to see a movie like this nowadays. It doesn't belong to a franchise. It's not from a comic book, toy or novel. It seems like no one would take a chance on a movie like this.

On retrospect, the 'after midnight' rule seems weird. How does the gremlin know it's after midnight? What about timezones? Is it about darkness? What if a gremlin eats after midnight at the north pole, in summer?
Heck, what if the gremlin is in a room with like 100% humidity? What counts as getting wet?
The sunlight thing sort of makes sense. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by hot_monster at 5:11 PM on November 29, 2017 [1 favorite]


Magic. Like the strict legalistic wish interpretations that lead to trouble in Djinn stories.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 6:20 PM on November 29, 2017


hot_monster, you need to watch the sequel. I mean, everyone does, really.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 6:41 PM on November 29, 2017 [2 favorites]


I did see the sequel. Lol. It's been decades. I remember howling with laughter. My teen-self thought it was hilarious. I should revisit it.
posted by hot_monster at 8:01 PM on November 29, 2017


Hot monster: as Roger Every pointed out...it is ALWAYS after midnight.
posted by davidmsc at 10:11 PM on November 29, 2017 [1 favorite]


Obligatory
posted by museum of fire ants at 11:32 PM on November 29, 2017 [1 favorite]


Ahh sweet memories. The late 80's When *severe* tone whiplash in a kids film (?) wasn't considered even remotely odd.

Some movies people fondly remember from the 80's when they were kids like this and Ghostbusters weren't actually targeted at children at all, kids just liked them.

You read comments about for example Ghostbusters saying things like "It had some.. odd.. scenes for a children's movie." but they weren't actually watching a children's movie.

Original trailer for Gremlins

It doesn't really scream "children's movie".
posted by yonega at 6:59 AM on November 30, 2017


I mean then they blur the lines by making Gizmo dolls for kids, so...
posted by ODiV at 7:39 AM on November 30, 2017 [1 favorite]


They made this for kids too. And that's even less of a kids movie, no matter how many sugary cereals they try to sell with it.
posted by radwolf76 at 11:53 AM on November 30, 2017 [2 favorites]


Gremlins is awesome but the dog stuff always DOES fill me with horror. Gremlins 2 is sooo freakin misogynistic I can't rewatch it as an adult.
posted by agregoli at 1:59 PM on November 30, 2017 [1 favorite]


This movie is part of the Holiday Movie Club
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:48 AM on December 1, 2017


I mean then they blur the lines by making Gizmo dolls for kids, so...

I had three or four of the five kids' books (with a reading of the book on a 45 included!) you could get with a Hardees burger back in the day. One might contend it wasn't made for kids, but it was DEFINITELY marketed to them (us).
posted by solotoro at 11:52 AM on December 1, 2017


I saw this movie for the first time this year and it is far, FAR better than I expected. The sequel even more so! Brilliant and fun couple of movies.
posted by graventy at 3:27 PM on December 4, 2017


I saw this again at a film festival last year, and braced myself for what I expected would be an annoying instance of a woman in an action movie but actually the mom held her own pretty well. Nice to be pleasantly surprised by older media.

Frances Lee McCain is a stone-cold badass in this movie.
posted by doctornecessiter at 7:32 AM on December 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


We're going to see Gremlins tomorrow night and I am SO excited I can't even tell you.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:15 AM on December 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


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