Gremlins is a 1984 horror comedy distributed by Warner Bros. Its stars include Hoyt Axton as Randall Peltzer, Corey Feldman as Pete Fountaine, Zach Galligan as Billy Peltzer, and Phoebe Cates as Kate Beringer. The producer is Michael Finnell (The Howling) and the director is Joe Dante (Piranha).
The story takes place in the fictional small town of Kingston Falls. Struggling inventor Randall Peltzer buys a Mogwai creature whom he names Gizmo. He gives it to his son Billy for his birthday. Upon receiving this unusual gift, Bill is given specific instructions on how to care for Gizmo: never get him wet, never expose him to sunlight, and, most importantly, never feed him after midnight. At first, he follows these directions quite well until a friend of his, Pete Fountaine, accidentally gets the Mogwai creature wet. As a result, five more of these creatures spawn from its back. They are visually identical to Gizmo except one has a stripe and it appears to be the leader of the new Mogwai, who seem more mischievous than Gizmo. One night, Billy decides to feed them, but not before checking the time to make sure it’s before midnight. According to the clock it is, so he gives them some chicken which Gizmo refuses. The next morning, he notices that cocoons have appeared where the Mogwai were. As he is telling his mom that he made sure it was before midnight, he realizes that the clock was unplugged. Soon they hatch and begin causing trouble all over the house. One by one Mrs. Peltzer kills them off until only the one with the stripe is left. Stripe is chased by Billy and Gizmo until it reaches the local YMCA where Stripe jumps into the swimming pool, spawning hundreds more Gremlins. They all proceed to take over and severely damage the town.
It is interesting that the writers would choose to have sunlight destroy a gremlin. As we all know, with darkness comes uncertainty and with uncertainty comes fear. But with light comes more certainty and with more certainty comes much less fear. The gremlins, in their reptilian form, are feared in this movie. If light eliminates fear, then it would logically follow that it would also eliminate the gremlins, which may have been why the storywriters would put this into the film.
Another fascinating feature of the film was the inclusion of Mrs. Ruby Deagle as the town’s grumpy old lady and an Ebeneezer Scrooge-like character. Mrs. Deagle has a very cold heart and only cares about money, no matter who she has to hurt to get it. We first witness her cold heart towards the beginning when a family who seems to be down on its luck asks the cruel miser if it can have a little more time to get the money to pay what they owe her. She replies with an absolute “no”. One of them mentions that it’s Christmas which is the time of year when people are kinder to one another. She responds by saying, “Well, then, now you know what to ask Santa for!” Later on, she is seen in a big, giant mansion where she cares only for her cats. Deagle mistakes the gremlins for carolers whom she hates. She goes out to send them away when she discovers the ugly creatures. The grumpy old lady slams the door and locks it. Then, she goes upstairs on her motorized seat. But the gremlins mess with her power and she goes so fast that when she reaches the top, she rockets out the window.
To wrap, if you like the horror-comedy genre hybrid, then Gremlins is your kind of film!