You do with Mogwai what your society has done with nature's gifts.

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2008)

A mysterious looking creature is purchased from Chinatown and taken home as a pet, the Mogwai comes with three rules that must be observed at all times; Keep him out of light, especially sunlight as it will kill him Never get him wet...
Never ever feed him after midnight...
Naturally things go belly up and what happens next amounts to a riotous invasion of Gremlins causing no end of destruction to the small town of Kingston Falls. What strikes me the most about Gremlins is the blend of tones, the comedy mixes brilliantly with the cute factor, and then all the serenity is destroyed by the carnage unleashed. With some scenes fit to grace any horror movie. Playing heavily on the old urban legends of little Gremlins messing with machines to unsurp humans, director Joe Dante creates a "Spielbergian" (the beard on producing duty here) parody that delivers royally on the entertainment front. There's fun to be had with some of the in jokes and the social references that the writers throw in at frequent moments. Nods to films like The Wizard of Oz, It's A Wonderful Life and Invasion of the Body Snatchers are well placed, while the pre CGI creatures themselves are brilliant in their reactions to things around them. Be it a gremlin attacking something or Gizmo watching the television aghast, these sprites are a delight.
Some of the humour is very pitch black, so much so it would have gone over many a child's head back when the film was first released. You can imagine many an adult parent sitting there with the children cringing as they laugh to moments like flasher and mugger gremlin, while metaphors and wry side-swipes at small town Americana are bountiful for the observant. Is it, as some critics called it on release, mean spirited? No, not at all, yes it's a complete flip-flop from the homely comforts provided by ET era Spielberg or Disney on full tilt family friendly fodder mode, but director Joe Dante and writer Chris Columbus aren't fly pitching in that particular market. This is a wonderful horror comedy with dark narrative tints around the jagged edges, the cast may well be standing up purely as extras to the gremlins and the carnage they create, but it's devilishly funny all the same. Besides, if you can't go Aww at the sight of Gizmo, or laugh heartily as a theatre full of gremlins rejoice in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, then clearly, before delving into the thematics of it, it's not the movie for you anyway. 9/10