GREMLINS (1984) Reviewed By David Wilcock (C)1998 David Wilcock
Starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Scott Brady and Polly Holliday
Directed By Joe Dante
This Steven Spielberg produced film became another hit for him, even if he didn't direct it. The film opens with Ran Peltzer (Axton) walking around in Chinatown. He walks into an odd shop, run by a very old chinese man (Keye Luke) An odd creature called Gizmo, who is a mowlgi. Ran buys the pet, three rules are told to him (no water on Gizmo, no bright light, and don't feed him after midnight, classic fairy tale stuff) and Ran gives Gizmo to his son, Billy (Galligan) Of course, the rules are broken, and a group of evil creatures start terrorising the quiet town of Kingston Falls (a very Spielberg place), where Billy lives.
The problem with the film, though, is that Gremlins don't really get into swing until one hour into the movie, when the Gremlins drive a snow plough through a house. It's non stop action from there on. But before that, the story has to be set up, and Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs Doubtfire) script has to keep the audiences attention. Sadly, his script does start to lag, but thankfully, the performances and direction don't. Galligan, Cates (who plays Billy girlfriend), Judge Reinhold (Ruthless People, Beverly Hills Cop) and Dick Miller (Twilight Zone The Movie) are all good,and push the film along. Polly Holliday is reasonable funny in the role of Mrs Beagle, even if her role is hopelessly underwritten. Joe Dante directs well, making sure he can get the best out of the performances.
But the best performances come from Gizmo, voiced by Howie Mandel, and the Gremlins. Gizmo is sickingly cute, and has got real character. The Gremlins, designed by Chris Walas (who did makeup effects for The Fly) are sickingly sick, and are really funny. Here, Joe Dante really shows what he's good at directing, which is manic comedy/horor. There are some great deaths, some silly scenes, and some groan worthy gags, but the film really gets going when the Gremlins finally start to cause chaos. Here, thankfully, any hope of a script disappears, and Columbus just gets on with the mischief.
Stick with the film, then, and it's ultimately rewarding. With some good music by Jerry Goldsmith (Total Recall, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) an excellent supporting cast (Dick Miller is very good) and some good (although nasty) laughs, the last 50 minutes of Gremlins is some of the best black comedy you are ever going to see. If only a stronger scriptwriter was hired, then maybe the first hour would be excellent also. Gremlins 2 is better than this, because it didn't have to explain much back story, and it was more enjoyable generally. Gremlins, then, although flawed, is still recommended.
OVERALL RATING=*** out of *****
REVIEW BY DAVID WILCOCK (C)1998
DAVID WILCOCK david.wilcock@btinternet.com Visit the Wilcock Movie Page! http://wilcockmovie.home.ml.org -OR- http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/9061
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