Mogwai Monster Mash

Considering what a joy to behold (and a substantial global box office hit) Gremlins is, it comes as a surprise to find out that not everybody liked Gremlins at the time. Fortunately, their reasons for not liking it are the very reasons I’ve adored it for nearly 30 years; it’s subversive. Produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, Gremlins is dark fable, a blackly humorous fairy tale if you like, cautioning it’s audience with a Michael Critchton like warning of not fucking with mother nature.

Director Joe Dante and writer Chris (Home Alone) Columbus set the story up perfectly. It takes place in a perfect vision of American; houses with white picket fences, families are happy, people buy American, Hoyt Axton’s inventor represents the American Dream in action as he tries to get rich and young men fall in love with beautiful young women (the adorable beyond words Phoebe Cates). Layered onto this we’re presented with the perfect ideal of Christmas; pretty, perfect white snow covers everything and people are cheerful in a mythic, arabesque way (It’s A Wonderful Life plays on the TV). Even America’s preoccupation with consumerism (the climax takes place in a department store) and the wholesomeness of Disney (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) are exploited. Even the Mogwai are presented as the perfect American pet.

And then the Gremlins hatch which is the moment Dante’s eyes light up. The film desends into a mean-spirited comedy-horror where the cherished staples of American life are subverted and savaged. Riffing off 50’s B movies like Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (also referenced) Dante taps into that eras paranoia of the indefinable ‘them’ and ‘it’ that undercuts the perfect American existence. The feel good Disney vibe is replaced by a wacky, live-action Loony Tunes sensibility in which people die in ludicrously horrible ways in a mischievous and hilarious romp.

There’s tons of great gags, John Hora photographs everything with eith a rich warmth or a bleak terror, Jerry Goldsmith’s score remains a classic and it’s fun looking for all the movie references from Flashdance, film noir and The Wizard Of Oz. Clever, exciting and often side-splittingly funny, Gremlins still stands as one of Amblin’s best ever productions.