Gremlins

Stream on HBO Max

Runtime: 1 Hour and 46 Minutes

Rated PG-13

"First of all, keep him out of the light, he hates bright light, especially sunlight, it'll kill him. Second, don't give him any water, not even to drink. But the most important rule, the rule you can never forget, no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never feed him after midnight."

Billy receives a strange, cute creature called a Mogwai as a Christmas gift. He’s given three simple rules for caring for it—but when those rules are broken, the Mogwai multiplies into mischievous, destructive Gremlins that overrun the small town of Kingston Falls.

Themes:

Mogwai, Gremlins, Christmas, following rules, mischief, responsibility, gifts, making the illogical logical, disobeying, myths, mayhem, inventions, support, science, trauma, destruction, trauma, loss, listening, small problems becoming big ones, and pet ownership.

Language:

A*s - 1 D*mn - 5 Hell - 5

Stuff to be aware of: “to hear, one only has to listen.”

Alcohol - There are several scenes with human characters drinking in a bar and some scenes with Gremlins drinking in a bar. An older man is drunk and is asked not to drive home. A police officer pours alcohol into his drink. Gremlins are seen smoking and drinking.

Gross - When the Mogwai eat chicken legs, it is disgusting and may leave you with food trauma. After the gremlins enter their “pupil” stage the emergence from their cocoons is gross practical effects.

Scary - This movie is full of gremlins, and there are a few jump scares. They attack people, chase people, and cause havoc in a small town. The final battle takes place in a dark department store at night.

When the final Gremlin dies he falls into a fountain, his skeleton pops out in “jump scare” fashion.

Sexual - A man takes his shirt off when changing, and his bare chest is seen. There is a brief scene with a “flasher” Gremlin who opens his trench coat revealing his naked body. Just like all the other Gremlins, this one has no private parts; they reproduce with water, remember?

Suicide - A character talks about how the number of suicides goes up during the holidays. She says, “while some are opening presents, others are opening up their wrists.”

Violence/Gore - A miserable woman talks about putting a man’s dog down and doing other terrible things to him. The same dog is strung up and hanging from the roof of a porch by Christmas lights. Gizmo is bullied and abused by the Gremlins.

A man gets bitten on the hand, and his legs are later seen lying on the floor; he is presumed dead. This man has a syringe sticking out of his butt. Other characters get bitten and scratched and are seen bleeding.

A woman stabs a gremlin with a butcher knife, explodes one in the microwave, chops up one in a blender, and then one attacks her by jumping out of a Christmas tree. The Gremlin tries to choke the lady with Christmas lights and scratches her head, causing it to bleed. Another character enters the scene and chops the Gremlin’s head off with a sword. The head flies into the fire and is seen burning up.

One character tells a sad story about how her father, dressed as Santa Claus, was trying to come down the chimney and surprise her when she was a child. He falls and breaks his neck. He dies in the chimney, and the family finds him when there starts to be a smell.

During the final battle, one character gets shot in the arm by a crossbow. One character gets beaten up pretty badly and has blood on his head. He is attacked by a Gremlin with a chainsaw, but does not get cut. The final Gremlin dies in a very gruesome way. He melts, and his skeleton melts down in gross, 80s fashion.

Other - When Gizmo gets wet, he acts as if it hurts when the other Mogwai furballs pop out of him.

Overall:

Seeing It With Your Family

My understanding is that Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are the reason we now have a PG-13 rating. Gremlins is a fun, dark comedy horror movie, but it will likely be too much for very young viewers. There is plenty of language, violence, and stories about gruesome deaths. The movie strikes a good balance between humor and horror.

What I Thought

This is my favorite Christmas movie, YES, it is a Christmas movie. It takes place at Christmas, has Christmas music, Santa shows up, some Gremlins go caroling, and the entire movie is about a Christmas gift.

This is one of the great 80s movies that is still quoted today and still sells merchandise. Gremlins would go on to create a whole subgenre of horror, with multiple studios trying to capture its success with mischievous critters movies such as Critters and Ghoulies. None would ever go on to be as witty and achieve the feel of Gremlins.