AC7 - MSR - Gremlins

While not really regarded as a Christmas film, the films (well the first one at least) do take place at around that time, so it kind of counts. Anyway, so I previously and briefly mentioned about the titular monsters in my top 25 monsters list in October and I think it feels right for me to talk about them further as I review the 2 films in the series so far. I have been told that there might be another Gremlins film in the works, but that's nothing more than a rumour at this point in time. Anyway, let's take a look at the films:

Gremlins

So directed by Joe Dante who's only successful film was this very film (but that could be down to the fact that Steven Spielberg's company Amblin Entertainment were involved in the making of this, if anything), we come to this struggling inventor named Randall Peltzer (played by Hoyt Axton) who is trying to find a Christmas present for his 21 year old son Billy (played by Zach Galligan). He comes across a Chinatown antique store where he sees a creature called a Mogwai and decides to buy it. But the owner of the shop (played by Keye Luke) refuses to sell it to him as he finds it to be a great responsibility. Despite leaving empty handed, Randall is stopped by the owner's grandson (played by John Louie) who sells it to him as the store is in need of money. There are 3 specific instructions on looking after a Mogwai which are to never expose it to light, never get water on it and regardless of how much crying and begging it does, to never feed it after midnight because bad things will happen if you do. Randall calls the creature Gizmo and gives it to his son, but accidentally spills water onto Gizmo causing him to make a few more Mogwais who behave differently and are more hostile than Gizmo. And as we begin to learn, all those rules will be broken and bad things will happen. This in my opinion is unlike any horror film that I have seen before it as it feels more like a family film despite being about creatures who are quite hostile and do bad things to people if they get in their way, but that's OK. I like the idea, I think its a great film and its also one of the rare occasions where WB would actually ask Disney to provide some footage for them as there is a scene where the titular monsters are in a theatre watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (which I will be looking at later this month). But in all seriousness, those rules can apply to some of our own pets like cats and dogs, though I think both can survive water and light, but the thing about not feeding it after midnight, I think there is a variation of that for those pets, but that's my take on it anyway. 9/10

The New Batch

So after the success of the last film, WB asked to have another film made, though (and rightly so) Joe Dante felt that it was an excuse for WB to have a cash grab and be able to release merchandise which they did for the first and this film. In the end, Dante gave in and made another film. So after quite possibly, a memorable yet funny WB logo intro that features Daffy and Bugs, we cut to New York (which at the time, was before 9/11 occurred) where the owner of the antique store from the last film, dies thus having Gizmo (who actually moves and looks better than in the first film) be a guinea pig in a research facility at Clamp Enterprises which is an automatic state of the art building in New York which much like with how Bruce Wayne runs Wayne Enterprises, is run by an eccentric billionaire called Daniel Clamp (played by John Glover), but unlike the former, doesn't dress like a Bat in the night, but that very Bat does get a little reference in the film nevertheless. Billy has moved to New York where he comes across and rescues Billy much to the dismay of the scientist Dr. Catheter (played by a guy who is typically cast as a villain and has that tone of voice to be a villain, Christopher Lee). Billy now works at CE and after a days work, leaves Gizmo at the office where he gets wet and spawns some more Mogwai and much like with the last film, they all begin to mutate and become the titular monsters, only this time, through the use of experiments, they are all very different this time around and its up to the people who go to the building the next day to prevent them from leaving the building as they would cause mayhem and wreck havoc in the area. In my opinion, the film is good in the sense that the filmmakers try to give the Gremlins their own persona such as one who is highly intelligent, one who has the abilities of a spider and even one who can fly like a bat which makes each one unique and not generic like in the first film so that bit I like. I also loved the break the fourth wall jokes such as a guy who was reviewing the first film and even the film reel being attacked by the Gremlins forcing Hulk Hogan of all people to get into action. But aside from those things, its not the best film I've seen, but not the worst either. I think the Gremlins stole the show which is what I expect to see when you have a film called Gremlins, but everything else feels like a whole big mess. The acting is OK, the many jokes, cameos and references are good, but the rest of it, just doesn't work for me. It feels like more of a family comedy than a family horror this time around, but as someone who likes both, I'm OK with that as long as the jokes and humour works. 8/10

So that's that. Its a great series of films that tells people that despite the race against time to stop these creatures, you can have fun while doing so and make each of the monsters, their own persona. Its kind of shocking really that these films by Joe Dante were the only big hits that he made and everything else he did, didn't work out as well, but when you have a big name like Steven Spielberg involved, you know its going to do well no matter what and that's the impression I got when I saw the first film. 8/10