Over the glorious Christmas Break Dr. Wife and I sat down to watch one of my favorite childhood flicks, Gremlins (1984; that’s an Amazon Affiliate link to a Blu-Ray of the film, along with Gremlins 2 and The Goonies; I received a portion of any purchase made through that link, at no additional cost to you).  She had never seen it before, and as it is a Christmas movie (at least, it takes place at Christmas), I thought we should give it a watch.  I also knew that she would love Gizmo, the plucky Mogwai (she did).

I remember a similar scenario many years ago with my older brother’s first wife:  we all sat down and watched Gremlins, which she had never seen before, and it was a delightful experience.  Dr. Wife was feeling under-the-weather when we did our viewing together, but she thoroughly enjoyed it.  I did as well, even though I did not enjoy wrapping Christmas presents (poorly) while we watched—ha!

Gremlins is one of those “new classics” which seemed to proliferate like dandelions during the 1980s and 1990s.  It’s a black comedy of sorts, blending horror and monster movie cheek with an adorable fuzzball, the aforementioned Gizmo.

The film also has many overt references to It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), even down to showing a clip from that flick.  The name of the town is even called Kingston Falls, a clear reference to Life‘s Bedford Falls, and the main character, Billy, works in a bank like George.  There’s even a cranky old lady who owns a bunch of slums in town (who meets with an hilarious and iconic end at the hands of the title critters).

For those who have not seen the film, the setup is simple:  Billy’s dad, a down-on-his-luck inventor and salesmen, purchases a Mogwai and gives it to his son for Christmas.  A Mogwai is a strange, furry little creature, and Billy’s family names this one Gizmo.

However, there are some important rules for caring for a Mogwai:  keep it out of direct light, which hurts it; don’t get it wet; and never, ever feed it after midnight.  That third rule has generated lots of cheeky Internet speculation over the years about when it’s safe to begin feeding the Mogwai again—at dawn?—but the movie leaves that up to the viewer’s imagination and speculation.  Basically, don’t feed them after midnight, mmmkay?

Predictably, all of these rules get broken, only the first beneficially.  Billy’s friend Cory Feldman (ha!) spills some water on Gizmo, causing him to fire fuzzballs from his back; these fuzzballs become new Mogwai.  However, those Mogwai are not sweet and gentle like Gizmo.  Instead, they’re cruel and demanding.

The worst comes when the new Mogwai trick Billy into feeding them some chicken after midnight.  Soon, they enter a pupal phase, where they look like slimy green pods.  Those pods hatch into—gasp!—gremlins, which begin wreaking havoc all over Kingston Falls.

From there, mayhem ensues, and there are some hilariously dark deaths as the gremlins spread terror.  One of the best scenes, however, is when Billy’s mom manages to dispatch several of the gremlins in the kitchen, including—memorably—microwaving one to death.  Whoa!

The other truly memorable scene is when a gremlin tampers with the mean old lady’s staircase chair, which causes her to fly out of the upstairs window and into the street below.  It’s a bit of chaotic evil justice, and as kids, we thought it was hysterical (and scary).

As kids, we had The Gremlins Storybook (also an Amazon Affiliate link; same disclaimer as above), which had creepy pictures from the movie, as well as (as I recall) illustrations that really captured how scary the gremlins were—especially in their pods.  That book really enhanced the scariness of the movie, and further imprinted the story on my young mind.

Now, Gremlins isn’t super scary, but it’s still a fun watch.  Dr. Wife loved Gizmo; she said Gizmo reminder her of her dog, Nugget.  I heard somewhere that Stephen Spielberg, the executive producer on the film, advised director Joe Dante to make Gizmo “look more like my dog,” which was wise—it definitely ups the cute factor.

All in all, I cannot recommend this film enough, especially at the holidays.  It’s well-worth watching again and again!

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