Mischief and Mayhem in a Cuddly, Furry Package

Rating: 7/10 (4 May 2016)

Gremlins falls into this latter category, and I wondered if it would still hold up after all of these years. In a nutshell, it does... kind of. I love the late 80's Spielbergesque feel to the movie, the quality and tone which I can't ever quite describe but has me thinking of all the films from this era. I love the premise behind the film, Gizmo and yes, the Gremlins themselves. The memorable kitchen sequence still stands up today, and most of the film is carried off to good effect. If you think there's a but in there you'd be right, and this time round I thought the whole bar scene and the finale were too slapstick, but honestly I'm being churlish. This is still great fun, and it's the humor which carries this as much as anything.
I do have a couple of problems with the film though. One of them being the casting of Zach Galligan as the son and the main character. When you hear that the father is going to buy a present for his son you automatically assume that the son will be a lot younger than he actually is. I don't know how old he actually is and is supposed to be, but he looked about 19. I just felt that the role was written for a younger character. Saying that there is a love interest in the film (Phoebe Cates) which I suppose couldn't have played if the character was a lot younger. There is another thing I've always wondered. If you can't feed the gremlins after midnight, when can you start feeding them again?! There are also some small roles for future stars Corey Feldman and Judge Reinhold. The soundtrack is classic eighties cheesiness in all its glory and splendor. Howie Mandel did a good job as the voice of Gizmo, even if it didn't consist of much. Chris Columbus, Joe Dante and Steven Spielberg prove themselves an excellent team, combining a humorous and witty script with some extremely good movie-making. This movie has become, and will live on as, a cult classic adored by fans of monster and horror films and should not be missed.
Overall rating: 7 out of 10.