Gremlins (1984): A Crtitical Analysis

Rating: 4/5 stars

“A world with no intention of following common sense societal guidelines gets taught a valuable lesson by small bears that are also owls that are also goblins.”

A while back I made a promise to watch and review the movie Gremlins so guess what folks; It’s time to watch and review the movie Gremlins. I’ve decided to watch this classic flick in the month of November, and it seems like the right call as I still can’t decide if it’s more appropriate for Halloween or Christmas. Watching it in the middle of both is my compromise.

Gremlins revolves around the premise of shortsightedness and refusal to bend to the will of rational thought. Nobody questions the existence of these strange creatures. Nobody even begins to question it even when they sing, talk, or multiply in terrifying fashion thanks to the most common resource on the planet. They are simply part of the world as everyone knows it now, and it's fine. Gremlins are the new dogs, and you can just deal with it. The rest of the movie deals with the consequences of that. 

 

Pictured above: consequences

If anything, the film seems like a scathing criticism of consumption under capitalism, as the only thought put into anything by characters of the film is ‘how can what I am doing make me money.’ If you view that as a reach (which it totally is), much less of a reach would be saying that it’s a scathing criticism of not stabbing strange creatures with a knife while you have the chance.

 Stab here to end film.

Overall, Gremlins was thoroughly ridiculous and always enjoyable. The film shines when the gremlins are set loose and free to do as they wish (like elaborately dressing up as carolers to scare an elderly woman or throwing an absolute rager at the local pub). It’s a viewing experience that doesn’t demand much more from you than “look at this weird shit that’s about to happen.” I think most can appreciate that.

Scattered thoughts on the film:

The father’s gift-buying process is one that I hope to emulate this upcoming Christmas season. He enters what I can only assume is an opium front and the second he sets his eye on a strange li’l freak of a goblin he thinks “I must purchase this for $200. For my adult son.”

Whether it was orange juice or blended gremlin muck, the production crew clearly enjoyed the idea of making a giant mess. Half of the movie’s budget was spent on various goops to spill and spray everywhere. No, I will not look this up to confirm; because it feels right.

 Wait try again man, looks like you almost have it.

One day I aspire to be the old rich lady who takes trips to the bank exclusively to threaten the tellers and their dogs. This seems like something I could work into a schedule in my waning years.

I gasped when Billy swung the sword near his mother as I, for a brief moment, completely believed I was witnessing a decapitation.

I already knew this from general existence, but if you ask the question “can this get any worse?” the answer is always “yes”. This thought was brought on by the gremlin jacuzzi created in the YMCA swimming pool.

The gremlins, collectively, can operate heavy machinery with (I’m assuming) no training. This is extremely cool to me. Would like a film that explores this concept further.

This movie is the 2^nd most 80s thing I’ve ever seen (#1 is the Thriller music video).