Perennial favourite

Rating: 6/10 (27 February 2011)

A perennial Christmas favourite, Joe Dante's monster movie is a kid's film for grown ups, made when children's cinema still had real bite. Watched today, twenty-six years after it was first released, it still holds a great deal of charm for the adult viewer who grew up in the '80s. As with most of Dante's movie, a lot of the fun alone comes from the director's clear affection for the genre, watching for all the gags and references that are surely to come, such as the scene involving the classic Time Machine.
As for the rest of the movie...the depiction of small town and family life is very well realised. There's a cosy feel to film's first half. Zach Galligan is a charming hero, and Phoebe Cates the fitting object of his affection. Dick Miller, a genre standby since the '50s, has a nice role to sink his teeth into, and it's also great to see Keye Luke in a pivotal role. The supporting characters, particularly Hoyt Axton as the inventor-father, are well drawn. When the gremlins and their brand of anarchy take over, I was less impressed. The film descends into silliness I could have done without, but then picks up for a climax in which Gizmo shows his true colours, so it's not all bad. I found the sequel, GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH, to be equally fun.