Remember that old Bugs Bunny "Looney Tunes" short? "Gremlins"

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2016)

1984's "Gremlins" is really one of the best-known of holiday-themed horror and fantasy films that also double as darkly-humored comedies. That's what "Gremlins" is, essentially: a Christmas-themed horror-/fantasy-comedy. In that regard, the film has become a perennial Christmas-holiday classic, along the lines of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993) and the more-recent "Krampus" (2015).
"Gremlins" is a movie that I grew up watching throughout my childhood, but I don't think that I've ever really sat down and watched the whole thing in its entirety. But I do know that I've always liked this movie and gotten a real kick out of it.
Executively produced by master cinematic craftsman Steven Spielberg, expertly directed by Joe Dante ("The Howling") and written by future Hollywood hot-shot Chris Columbus ("Home Alone," "Mrs. Doubtfire"), "Gremlins" is set a few days before Christmas in the fictional Midwestern town of Kingston Falls. As an early Christmas present, Billy (Zach Galligan) receives a mysterious, cute little creature known only as a "mogwai" from his inventor father to keep as a pet; Billy names the adorable critter "Gizmo." But taking care of a mogwai is a huge responsibility, we learn, and come with three rules that must be obeyed at all times: keep them away from sunlight, don't let get them wet, and don't let them eat anything after midnight. Seems simple, right?
Wrong.
Gizmo accidentally gets wet, and he spawns five more mogwai creatures, but these are different from Gizmo. These newly-spawned mogwai are curiously more malevolent and voracious than Gizmo is, and a series of plot machinations result in them transforming into the true "Gremlins" of the film's title, and soon the small Midwestern town of Kingston Falls is overrun with little, reptilian-looking, mischief-making Gremlins. It's up to Billy and his new crush Kate (Phoebe Cates) to put a stop to these creatures before they have a chance to spread beyond Kingston Falls' borders.
"Gremlins" was one of several films released in 1984 that led the MPAA to revise its rating system because the film may not have been suitable for small children - despite its "PG" rating. It might have been too scary for some young tastes, according to parental groups who complained about the film's violent content. This led to the "PG-13" rating, which is now the go-to rating for most big-budget Hollywood films released today. If "Gremlins" were released in 2016, there's no question it would get a "PG-13" rating from the MPAA.
But nonetheless, "Gremlins" is a thrilling, cackling funny little holiday-themed fantasy-comedy film. The creatures in the film, designed by future Oscar-winner Chris Walas (who won an Oscar for David Cronenberg's "The Fly" in 1986), are wonderful special effects creations - brought to life by a combination of state-of-the-art animatronics, puppetry, miniatures, and stop-motion effects. Gizmo, as the only "good" Gremlin, is adorable - but we see what he can become, after witnessing the transformation of his brethren and the havoc they're capable of causing around town. They're dangerous and cause a lot of epic property damage, but Dante and Walas are able to get some incredible laughs out of them later on in the film.
"Gremlins" is a delightful little holiday hoot that you won't see anything like for a very, very long time.
10/10