Gremlins (Special Edition) / Gremlins 2 - The New Batch
In 1984, at the tender age of nine, I just couldn't convince the cinema staff I was old enough to see Gremlins, so I had to be content with whatever merchandise I could lay my hands on-and that was a lot. I had the Marvel Comics adaptation, the official read-along book and cassette, the unofficial read-along book and cassette, the full set of miniature plastic figures, Gizmo and Stripe 'candy' dispensers and yes, even a pair of pyjamas. Suffice to say, I was a Gremlins fanatic, without actually having seen the picture. Thanks to home video and some questionable parenting I finally got to see the film around age ten, and went on to rent the thing every weekend for weeks just to get my fill or the furry little Mogwai and his scaly progeny.Of course Gremlins was one of the first titles I purchased for my shiny new DVD player back in the early days, but as was the case with all Warner catalogue titles of the time, the disc was a barren affair. You can imagine my delight, then, when I heard of the region one release of a Special Edition of not only the first film, but the pseudo-sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. For one reason or another I never actually got around to ordering the titles for myself (too many films, so little time), but I was recently able to get my hands on these sweet slices of my childhood courtesy of some flagrant abuse of my position as region two editor. Go me!