Party with little green monsters!

Rating: Null/10 (16 October 2003)

Who'd of thought mayhem would be so much fun? A ridiculous plot line with an almost laughable premises presents itself, and despite the far-fetched idea I found myself surrendering to the film's incredibly charm, kicking back and enjoying the onscreen mayhem. Joe Dante brings an oddball twist of horror and loony toons-inspired comedy by making little demonic creatures have interestingly violent, yet quirky, personalities. The gremlins hold a place as my favorite movie monsters of all time.
The real stars of the movie are Gizmo and the Gremlins (sorry Zack, Phoebe) compliments of Chris Wallas and his creature effects crew who did a spectacular job bringing the puppets to life especially in the pre-CGI age. Watching Gremlins for the first time in years, now in the middle of the CGI age, I can honestly say I miss the days of puppets. CGI is great for a lot of things, and CGI makes many tasks easier . . . but characters entirely done with CGI lacks the concreteness of the Gremlins puppets. Sometimes the work is much more difficult, but I think it's worth it.

I love it when the Gremlins mimic the human characters around them in speech and actions, when they perform some act of cruelty and top it off with their silly and over-the-top maniacal laughter, somehow these little demons, while terrible and viscous, take on a lovable quality to them. They have a nice satirical edge to their personality that makes the Gremlins surpass so many creatures born into the horror genre and quickly forgotten. And who can forget the bouncy Gremlins theme music compliments of the immensely talented Jerry Goldsmith.
Another thing I love about Gremlins is the surreal nature to everything. The characters never quite seem real, the sets never quite look like a real place, the narration, the whole atmosphere of the town has a weird goofball fairy tale quality to it . . . but in no way is that a complaint or criticism. Gremlins never really sets out to take place in your home town and happen to the guy next door to you, and I'm glad it doesn't. Joe Dante set the tone and pacing for the film just perfectly and our little destructive Â‘friends' feel right at home at this nicely painted surreal world.
And everyone on the cast fits well into this surreal world, from more believable `realistic' characters to over-the-top caricatures - somehow they all seem right in their places.