Gremlins

Name: Gremlins
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Comedy
Released: June 8, 1984
Duration: 106 min
Rating: 70
Cast: Phoebe Cates, Zach Galligan

1984

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Ratings

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7.4

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7.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Ratings

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Gremlins

Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. | Release Date: June 8, 1984

Starring: Phoebe Cates, Zach Galligan

Summary: A cute little "mogwai" spawns demented demons when his young owner disregards the advice given by its previous owner.

Director: Joe Dante

Genre(s): Fantasy, Horror, Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 106 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Empire - Caroline Westbrook

A delightfully offbeat reminder of how inventive and witty blockbusters seemed when you were a kid. Read full review

Christian Science Monitor - David Sterritt

In many ways, though, Gremlins is ingenious. Gizmo yanks at your heartstrings with both furry fists, then sits out a few scenes while suspense builds, then plunges back with more vim than ever. The small-town setting, right out of a gushy Frank Capra movie, manages to be timeless, nostalgic, and slightly ridiculous all at once. Read full review

Chicago Tribune - Michael Wilmington

A horror-comedy about cute little Christmas toy/pets who turn into murderous monsters wreaking havoc on a Norman Rockwellian town. There's a moral there someplace. Read full review

Newsweek - David Ansen

If you like your summer popcorn movies laced with a little poisoned butter, Gremlins is not to be missed. [18 June 1984, p.90]

Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert

Gremlins was hailed as another "E.T." It's not. It's in a different tradition. At the level of Serious Film Criticism, it's a meditation on the myths in our movies: Christmas, families, monsters, retail stores, movies, boogeymen. At the level of Pop Movie-going, it's a sophisticated, witty B movie, in which the monsters are devouring not only the defenseless town, but decades of defenseless clichés. But don't go if you still believe in Santa Claus. Read full review

Chicago Reader - Jonathan Rosenbaum

What's confusing yet ultimately illuminating is the way his gremlins function as a free-floating metaphor, suggesting at separate junctures everything from teenagers to blacks to various Freudian suppressions. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine - Staff (Not Credited)

Dante gleefully trashes cliches and sentimental Capra-esque notions, but one should not forget this movie was given a "PG" rating and cynically aimed to draw an audience of small children who would no doubt be terrorized by this myth-shattering film. Read full review

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User Reviews

vetor

Aug 6, 2017

Gremlins is a classic 80`s movie With a mix between comedy and terror,Your story is well told and very fun,Gizmo is one of the cutest characters in the cinema,This movie was part of the childhood of many people.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Dragonfly44

Nov 27, 2017

Nice practical effects, cute little Gizmo and a very interesting plot make for a Christmas movie that can match up to the likes of Die Hard. . . . . . . .

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

robertoiglesias

Jan 15, 2018

Gremlins is an interesting, creepy, funny, and fascinating film. It really makes me laugh and smile.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

adamhui78

Jul 26, 2017

Somewhere between horror, comedy, and a Christmas movie, Gremlins has a little something for everyone. Doesn't hold up quite as well now as it did when I was 7, but Gizmo is still adorable and the "bad" gremlins are still kind of scary. The problem with this one is that it feels like a kid'sSomewhere between horror, comedy, and a Christmas movie, Gremlins has a little something for everyone. Doesn't hold up quite as well now as it did when I was 7, but Gizmo is still adorable and the "bad" gremlins are still kind of scary. The problem with this one is that it feels like a kid's movie that is too dark for kids and maybe a little too formulaic for adults.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

FilipeNeto

Feb 17, 2018

"Gremlins" is a film that marked the imagination of the youth of the eighties and nineties. In this film, the young Billy (Zach Galligan) bought a strange creature, apparently Eastern and property of an old Chinese, who warned him to the grave danger that could come if the creature, Gizmo,"Gremlins" is a film that marked the imagination of the youth of the eighties and nineties. In this film, the young Billy (Zach Galligan) bought a strange creature, apparently Eastern and property of an old Chinese, who warned him to the grave danger that could come if the creature, Gizmo, was not treated properly. The young man didn't understand the message: unable to see that Gizmo wasn't a toy or a pet, he did everything he couldn't and eventually gave rise to a plague of wild monsters, the Gremlins, capable of causing chaos and destruction wherever they go.

Directed by Joe Dante, the script was done by Chris Columbus, a producer who specializes himself in teen films ( "The Goonies" or the early films of "Harry Potter" franchise) or containing relevant and pedagogical messages ("Bicentennial Man", "Jingle All the Way", "the Help" etc.) and with the participation of Steven Spielberg as executive producer, something who helped to sell the film. After all, at that time, he was the most famous among the film's producers.

This film is usually classified as a horror comedy but I don't see it from that perspective. For me, it's an educational comedy, a film that uses comedy and soft-horror to teach an important message that we can consider almost ecological: certain things, in particular animals, should be treated with respect and care, because the consequences that can come from our negligence are rarely good. It's a family film, dedicated to young people but that will easily please the adult audience.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

amheretojudge

Aug 24, 2018

more commercial than it accounts for..

Gremlins Gremlins is a plot driven fictional horror about a metaphorical pet that ensues chaos as it gets loose in a town on a Christmas Evening. Despite of being a feature primarily for kids, it can be a bit smarter and even brimmed with horrors formore commercial than it accounts for..

Gremlins Gremlins is a plot driven fictional horror about a metaphorical pet that ensues chaos as it gets loose in a town on a Christmas Evening. Despite of being a feature primarily for kids, it can be a bit smarter and even brimmed with horrors for it to be what it is, but it also can annoyingly pathetic even for its younger audience. The human characters are one dimensional than the creatures projected in here. Gremlins gets more runtime than any of them here and unfortunately they aren't appropriately depicted, neither are written with conviction nor is the art designing or animation to the point. Some visual effects have gotten it right but it should be mandatory considering the premise that utterly relies upon it. All the side tracks and sub-plots attempts to offer some gravitas to the tale and keep it grounded but it fails miserably on it due to the chalky writing that is at best null to the core debate of the feature. As mentioned earlier, it is short on visuals effects, cinematography, background score, sound department, which gets more and more annoying as it ages on screen, and editing. The performance objective too, isn't fulfilled as anticipated where only the protagonist's father is bang on his bucks as he is flat out hilarious with his sketchy tools. Chugging down the unfathomable mischief in around 100 minutes, it overstays its welcome especially in its last act. The screenplay by Columbus has a heart but is misplaced whilst Dante's execution too isn't appreciative enough to breed either the sincerity or the crisp of it. Few hilarious gags and creativeness on the the creature are the only high points of this lost feature. Gremlins is more commercial than it accounts for and also misuses its makers name into luring in the audience for there is very little Spielberg-ness to explore in it or even craft for the matter.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Broyax

Dec 23, 2018

Sans doute assez novateur à son époque pour son mélange de comédie et de (petit) film horrifique, Gremlins étonne encore aujourd'hui par l'animation de ses marionnettes et quelques scènes rigolotes avec tous ses **** gnomes agités qui fument comme des pompiers et se bourrent la gueule, entreSans doute assez novateur à son époque pour son mélange de comédie et de (petit) film horrifique, Gremlins étonne encore aujourd'hui par l'animation de ses marionnettes et quelques scènes rigolotes avec tous ses **** gnomes agités qui fument comme des pompiers et se bourrent la gueule, entre autres bêtises...

Le film hélas peine à démarrer comme cette "saloperie de voiture étrangère" et ne se réveille qu'au bout d'une heure seulement ; en outre ses gags sont souvent poussifs et le côté cracra des nabots verdâtres risquent de faire peur à nos nains à nous, trop habitués aux gentilles gogoleries de Disney.

Le film a donc mal vieilli, non pas par sa technique mais par sa mollesse et son humour facile, trop adulescent pour convaincre, déjà en son temps. Alors, pour conclure, n'emmenez pas le gremlin au macdo après minuit : il deviendrait un yéti ou pire encore... on aurait des Hanouna partout !… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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