Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to In The Balcony. We hope you enjoy your visit.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Plus, you'll be eligible for the monthly $1 million prize. (Not really.)

Join our community!

If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Gremlins (1984)
Topic Started: Dec 19 2012, 01:01 AM (163 Views)
Laughing Gravy
Member Avatar
Look for In The Balcony on Facebook!
[ *  *  * ]
Hoyt Axton wanders Chinatown looking for an unusual gift for son Zach Galligan; in Keye Luke's curio shop, he finds an adorable little furball that Keye's money-hungry grandson is only too happy to sell him. The furball, whom he names Gizmo, comes with three important raising tips: don't get him wet, don't expose him to bright lights, and never, ever, ever feed him after midnight. Zach manages to break the rules, resulting in army of crude, crass, mischief-loving gremlins assaulting the town, terrorizing the populace, and killing indiscriminately. Zach, girlfriend Phoebe Cates, and Gizmo mount a final stand in a department store against Stripe and the evil gremlins.

I remember that this film was controversial back in its day; a lot of people were looking for another E.T., but instead got a horror-comedy-Christmas movie parody that featured, yes, cute furry animals but also offered green, scaly li'l horrors that get stuffed into blenders and explode inside microwave ovens. I tried to watch this movie with a friend today and she refused; she'd seen it when she was little and it was "too scary" for her. Merry Christmas! I like the movie a lot; it's as if horrid little vermin invade Bedford Falls or Disneyland. Although the gremlins kill at a whim, they also manage to take care of the film's villains (including Polly Holliday as the wicked Mrs. Deagle), so that's pretty satisfying. There are a lot of wonderful cameos, including Dick Miller & Jackie Joseph reunited 24 years after the original Little Shop of Horrors, and guest appearances by Robby the Robot and the Time Machine. The gremlins take over a bar and become drunken old barflies; they take over a theatre showing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and become rowdy children; they take absolute glee in causing destruction no matter where they are. Anarchy is nice in a holiday picture.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
Member Avatar
Sapient Balconeer
[ *  *  * ]
I've only watched this when it was out at the theaters, but I did love it, it's just so much fun. I remember reading something about the bar scene, where the cast and/or crew could write down things they wanted the drunked gremlins to do. I believe just about all of the requests were accomodated. I still remember cracking up at the gremlins because they always seemed to be giggling or laughing, whether they were having fun or being mischievous... now that I think about it, mischief and fun seemed to be one and the same to them.
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Laughing Gravy
Member Avatar
Look for In The Balcony on Facebook!
[ *  *  * ]
And by the way, I would've given the film a rave review even if director Joe Dante hadn't once emailed me to say how much he enjoyed reading In The Balcony. Maybe.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Laughing Gravy
Member Avatar
Look for In The Balcony on Facebook!
[ *  *  * ]
BY THE WAY, a little Gremlins trivia for you: the film opened in theatres the very same day as Ghostbusters. Also, note that 6 or 7 years later, there was a sequel (Gremlins 2: The New Batch), which featured Christopher Lee as a mad scientist. It's pretty good, too. But not Christmassy, as I recall.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
panzer the great & terrible
Member Avatar
Mouth Breather
[ *  *  * ]
I love the scene where Cates tells how her father died trying to come down the chimney in a Santa suit. Once I used the sound from that to begin my annual Christmas tape.

The gremlins remind me of kittens because they're completely amoral.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
« Previous Topic · Shock Theatre · Next Topic »
Add Reply