Gremlins

I think it's a very black joke. You want to laugh because of the circumstances of his death, but it's sad because of the way she tells the story. I think it's just suppose to get an uneasy reaction out of you - though some people I know find it hilarious.

I love that scene as well as the movie. One of the staples of my childhood.

When I die. I want to come back as a Gremlin. Their whole meaning for existence is to have fun. Drink, smoke, eat, party, shoot other gremlins and just wreak havoc.

Saw this last night as part of The Music Box's Alternative Christmas Double Feature (paired with Die Hard, natch). I now know what the sound of 100 people simultaneously falling in love is, because that's what I heard upon Gizmo's first 20 seconds of screen-time. Most adorable little guy ever.

I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, and it's pretty much perfect. The only part where it falters is the denouement. After everything we've been through, the characters get a finger wagged at them for being so irresponsible? What kind of an ending is that?

I'd say their town being destroyed was more than punishment enough. And I think the old man saw that Billy and his family were good people who just made a mistake, so why be vindictive?

Well, to be fair, they deserved it. They're given three simple instructions by Short Round and our heroes can't even follow them.

Also, the dude that started this thread was kinda dense, huh?

Yeah, but that's not how you end a movie like this, with a sermon about how the white man ruins all of nature. I guess the idea is for the last image to be Gizmo and the Old Man on the road, so the kids can imagine that there's a Mogwai coming to their town.

I love the scene where Cates talks about her dad. There's something about a kids' film having some dark shit in it that always makes it so much more memorable.

It's a scene that first gets set up much earlier with the amazing line "While some people are opening their presents, other people are opening their wrists." That fucking KILLED the audience, who didn't see it coming at all.

The chimney story's amazing, but Gizmo's reaction shot is what really sells it. And it's so inessential to the plot, I can't believe the studio didn't force Dante to remove it. They literally stop the movie so she can tell this horrific story.

Also, why does Judge Reinhold never show up again? He seemed ripe for comeuppance.

That's what's so funny about it. It's not like the movie ever has her overcome it or anything. You just sit there in awe going "Jesus, her Christmases suck!"

I seem to remember reading about a deleted scene where his character had been locked in jail by the Gremlins or something.

Yeah he gets locked in a Bank Vault, which I thought was a strangely underwhelming commupance for that character.

Also, in Chris Colombus' script the Gremlins originally kill the Dog and cut off the head of Billy's mother before tossing it down the stairs at him. Why can't we have that Chris Columbus making films anymore?

Whoa, that seems a bit much. I rather like the idea that the Gremlins are more mischievous than anything else and, if that mischief results in mayhem and murder, well, that's just swell, too.

Oh yeah, the original Gremlins script was a straight horror story. For example, there was a scene written at a McDonald's where the gremlins kill all the patrons and eat them.

Wow

It had been a few years since I had seen this and after a recent viewing, I find one bit of it particularly odd. I assume Billy is what, 18, maybe 19 years old? Why in the shit does his dad think that Gizmo would be a perfect gift for his son? Gizmo is a perfect gift for 10 year olds, not a young man working in a bank supporting his parents.

I think there are some deep rooted psychological problems there that could have been addressed in a movie all on its own.

I dunno, maybe I am wrong, but if Gizmo were a puppy, it would seem strange. A parent getting their mature child a pet for Christmas seems pretty whack.

I think it's part of the tone. I always saw Billy's incessant niceness to be a little tongue in cheek, but I admit that might be me reading too much into a completely bland lead performance. He's Mr. All American Well Adjusted Nice Boy to nearly a gross fault. The whole first act intentionally feels straight out of the 50's, which the next two acts subvert.

I always thought the "boy and his dog" theme was weakened by the fact that Billy already had a dog, Barney, but now I'm wondering if Barney isn't there to make the gift of the Mogwai seem less like "here's an adorable pet" and more like "here's the craziest, rarest, most unusual thing I could possibly find."

Something similar to this ended up in CRITTERS 2.

Mr. Peltzer is not firing on all cylinders. He's a mad scientist who's always on the road. Clearly the guy's out of touch with the needs/wants of his family. Too focused on his work. And impulsive. Probably thinks Billy's still a kid.

That was my thinking as well; he loves the kid, but he's pretty out of touch with him.

The problem with that is that Billy genuinely loves Gizmo and is excited when he first sees him, so even if he's out of touch, he must have lucked out and picked the right thing anyway.

It's not a puppy it's freaking Gizmo. Doesn't matter how old I am, If you get me a Mogwai I'll be the happiest person on the planet.

Exactly. In the great words of Clark Griswold, this kid is "fucked in the head".

I guess I can't shake the fact that Billy must have been considerably younger in an earlier draft, and certain elements stuck as Billy got "older". *shrug* Sure his dad is definitely out of touch and a bit whacko, but really?

Plus, as an adult, I find Gizmo downright fucking frightening. That little dick's humming, weird mumblings and rolling eyes would just about give me the creeps. If I opened a gift with that thing in it now? I would hand it back to the gifter and kindly ask them to get out.

As a child? Loved him. Not so much anymore, and sometimes it shocks me the creature design was exploited in the 80's to sell toys. Kids in the 80's were really gluttons for punishment I think -and I was no exception.

I think you may be reading too much into it. Spielberg probably said, "Add a dog. Kids like dogs." Eliot had a dog. There was a dog in Close Encounters. Henry Jones had a dog. Tin Tin has a dog. The dog in Jaws didn't do so well, I guess, but dude likes dogs.

As for the chimney story - I think it was to darken the tone a bit (dead is dead!) so that there was more tension for the last act. The movie was getting pretty zany by then. I for one always liked the contrast, and I feel like it can be taken as seriously as you want it to be taken.

Maybe for the Gremlins, but the Mogwais? Adorable. See Furby and Pikachu (and anything resembling a hamster toy) as well. Fuzzy? Wide-eyed? Purrs? Interactive? There's a big reason's this character is still popular in Japanese licensing.

But I dug (and feared a little) the bad Gremlins as well. Kids love monsters.

If the critter didn't have so many rules/dangers and I was Billy, I'd love one.

It was mentioned earlier on the movie that Phoebe Cates character doesn't celebrate Christmas. She tell Billy when they help a drunk guy out of the bar she works at.

My second favourite Christmas movie (behind Die Hard)! Watched it with my flatmate earlier on in the week.
I love Pheobe Cates' speach about her horrible past. The tone is so damn serious in that scene & both actors play it completely straight, which makes it possibly the funniest scene in the movie.
The bit that caught me as dragging a little was when the Gremlins were partying in the bar. I found all the breakdancing gags over-stayed their welcome. Maybe its just cuz we're not in the 80s anymore.

A trivia question:
How often does the cinema/theatre portion of the Universal Town Square set get destroyed? It gets crashed into by the Delorian in Back to the Future & gets blown up in Gremlins. Any other examples?

Poor old Barney was there to make Mrs Deagle guilt-free Gremlin Prey.

Got the SE DVD earlier in the year. Totally holding off watching it til tonight.

Looking forward to the sequence with the "can you hear what I hear?" music.

Anybody ever figure out what the theoretical "Forgotten Rule" is? I wonder if that's the single factor preventing a reboot. No direct daylight, no food after midnight, no water...Something to do with sound maybe? Deep bass? No Barry White? Leonard Cohen?

That's "Do You Hear, What I Hear" by Johnny Mathis which became a Marshall family staple after seeing this film.

Watched it with some Chewers last night and the thing which struck me was how Billy's character seems to be stuck between two different drafts. Because despite being 20 odd years old his character comes across as a teenager. His best friend is a ten year old, as someone else mentioned above he's given a pet for Christmas, and he defers to a high school Biology teacher. My guess is that Billy was originally ten or eleven and they simply added the bank stuff and aged his character without changing his core character.

Are you serious? I'm damn near 30 and would love either of my parents (or anyone for that matter) to get me a mogwai for Christmas.

What's more out of touch is the father wanting to pay only $200 for it.

Yeah, sorry. When genetically engineered pets become possible and legal, someone is going to make a fucking killing selling Mogwais. Gremlin dark-side and all.

@Spike:

That's one creepy household! The opening to that song is unsettling to say the least.

EDIT:
Fuck me. The forgotten rule is "No Johnny Mathis".

Well, I think the main idea is that he's an audience surrogate, the audience in this case being 10 and 11 year olds. You make a movie like this, you want the audience to imagine what it'd be like for THEM to have a Mogwai and have this crazy adventure. But you need him to drive around the town and all that. If it was a summer movie (and I know jack shit about the history of Gremlins, but it wouldn't surprise me if the whole Christmas setting was a later edition) you could have an 11 year old ride across the town on a bike whatever, but for him to get to all the set-pieces he needs to hit in the show, you need a car.

It would be funny if the leads were 11, if only to watch an 11-year old Kate deliver that horrifying monologue.

While I think the sequel is more of a straight-up Joe Dante flick and thus awesome, this is a fine little horror-comedy that injects some needed nastiness into the Christmas movie season.

My favorite scene is still when they watch Snow White. The idea of these murderous little bastards singing along to Disney is just hilarious, and their scratchy voices make it even funnier.