Gremlins - Page 2

Gremlins: A Review by James Rolfe (Angry Nintendo Nerd)

He's apparently doing movie reviews for SPIKE now? CINEMASSACRE?

He's reviewing movies now? I can't stand this guy.

Totally. I just wish Feldman showed up in the second one.

Rewatching this recently it's kind of strange how Mrs. Deagle is set up as the main antagonist at the beginning but basically disappears after the first act except to get her comeuppance.

I kinda see her more as "another thorn in Billy's side". An obstacle to overcome.

His shitty car, his crappy bank job (should be an artist!), his inability to ask out Kate, his failure of a father... and now a powerful and evil neighbor gunning for his dog. Part of the plot's ploy (set up) to get us as an audience to care for the character. The fact that the movie throws an even worse curveball at him and he succeeds (regardless of his irresponsibilites and the loss of Gizmo) could be seen as his main arc. Part 2 (with his art career and relationship with Kate) demonstrates his reward... and second chance to screw things up again. The outcome is much more out of his hands in the sequel. Mrs. Deagle is one of the many crappy aspects of Billy's small time life that must be destroyed for him to grow into a man, even if it's at the hands of Gremlins. The cleansing was necessary. The Gremlins are like a forest fire who wipe out everything, to fertilize the soil.

Plus, who doesn't like seeing an old witch go flying through an upstairs window and onto the street?

This had such an impact on me as a kid...as I got older, some of my friends ragged on me for liking it, because it was sort of a 'family comedy' horror. But it's so anarchic and inventive and fun, and Goldsmith's score is fabulous.

I just think she is set up as a hateful bitch so the audience will go crazy when she goes flies out of that window. I can't deny that it works.

It's hard for me to call it a family comedy because it's so fucking dark. The film is responsible for PG-13 for goodness sakes.

Yep. I was pushing it with my feaux-theory.

Here's my question about Mogwai. If you can't feed them after midnight, at what point can you feed them? Is it like from 12-6 is a no feed zone?

Well, it's technically always "after midnight". So, never?
Follow up to your question, what effect does daylight-savings time have on the mogwai metabolism?

Really the only time you should be able to feed them is exactly at midnight.

I just assumed Mrs Deagle was held over from Chris Columbus previous drafts. I wouldn't be suprised if she had a bigger role in his original script.

I <3 this:

Just caught up with the two films and a few things struck me...

 

Part 1 is WAY more subversive than part 2.   Part 2 is fun and everything but does part 2 dare you to laugh at something horrible like Part 1 does?   The "Father Christmas" part of part 1 only works because you know you shouldn't be laughing but you can't help yourself.   There's no such thing in part 2.   I mean I get why people think part 2 is more dangerous but I like to think it's more of an achievement to sneak in truly twisted shit in the confines of a "family" movie.

 

Was it ever established that Mogwais become evil if they are fed after midnight?   I mean they almost kill a dog and terrorize Gizmo something fierce and this is before they turn scaly.   I see no personality change at all.   One wonders if Gizmo became a Gremlin, would he become evil or just the same critter except less cute?

 

Part 2 is definitely better as you get older.   The film break, the Leonard Maltin review of the first Gremlins, etc. are just lots of fun.   It's not near as timeless as the first one but whenever you can get a big musical number to close out your film, you're doing something right.

 

Turns out, Ted Turner has a CNN "End of the World" sign off tape locked away which makes the "End of the World" sign off all the funnier.   You know Fox News has one.

 

Great Duology and count me in as one who would have loved to see more from this series.   It's really amazing we still don't have a remake but maybe that's for the best.

 

 

 

I've always wondered that. All the Mogwais in both films (except Gizmo) are assholes before they turn into Gremlins. I assume Gizmo would've been a nice Gremlin and that Mogwais are just inherently evil. Gizmo probably escaped his planet for that very reason.

 

Mogwais are aliens?!?!

 

Apparently. At least in the novel based on the film.

I think if there is a third Gremlins, it should be all about cute little Mogwais tearing shit up and Gizmo has to bulk up by eating after Midnight.   Could be a nice inversion of the formula and the funny would be off the charts.   Who doesn't want to see people kicking Mogwais around and throwing them into wood chippers?

 

Uh. Hells no.  They come from Earth.  

I remember reading that in the original script (and they may have even shot this), Gizmo turns and Billy has to put him down, Old Yeller style, but Spielberg vetoed that ending as too dark.
 

 

I also recall reading that the initial treatment was set on a military aircraft carrier that was in-flight and dealing with a Gremlin infestation.  I think the suburban setting came with Spielberg's involvement and that some stuff that he wanted to do in the abandoned Night Skies (which ET was also born of) made it into the project as well.

The earlier scripts for Gremlins were much, much darker.  A few years ago, I managed to find a copy of the second draft of the script online, which has subsequently been taken down.  They didn't count on the Wayback Machine though.  Enjoy.

 

WARNING: Ka-razy fanfic! I always imagined them as a primitive monk-like civilization living in the Himilayas (Shangra-La perhaps?), where stay isolated, to prevent a prophecied battle with an army of evil Gremlins. And there are larger subspecies, which account for Yeti sightings over the years.  Hence, Meatloaf's TO CATCH A YETI.

 

 

Course, if they are aliens, they are clearly a genetic engineering (or inter-species mating) of Yoda's unknown species and the cuddly denizens of Endor's moon.

 

 

But I always secretly hoped that Stan Winston would have gotten his "Dark Crystal" esque film made. Perhaps, Winston's  mogwai-ish-cousin, Leonardo, would have starred and fulfilled my daydreams of "cute and cuddly" battling "nasty and reptilian" critters (puppets only, sans humans) on the big screen. I guess we'll never know.

 

 

4 CRITTERS flicks, 4 GHOULIES, 2 TROLLS, 2 HOBGOBLINS, 3 MUNCHIES, 2 GREMLINS, but only 1 FUZZBUCKET??? I weep for our society.

 

Edited by DARKMITE8 - 12/6/11 at 9:14am