You have no idea how excited I am to talk to you about Gremlins today! This is one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time and essential viewing every holiday season. It is crazy to think that this was released back in 1984 and that it holds up so well to this very day.
How to Download Gremlins
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. if you’re in the market for classic Christmas movies, check out also Home Alone and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.
The Movie Review
When you think about it, it is not surprising that Gremlins was such a great movie. It has Steven Spielberg’s fingerprints all over it, it is directed by Joe Dante and Chris Columbus wrote the script. It is a real dream team and they created something so special here that it will probably be enjoyed by people for generations to come.
Taking place during Christmas. Rand Peltzer is an inventor who is looking for the perfect present for his son, Billy which leads him to a little store in China Town. This is a pretty cool store and has a kind of mystical and magical thing about it that as a kid I just loved and it even fills me with wonder now.
Through less than honest means, Rand ends up purchasing a Mogwai from the store and he takes him home to his son Billy. The Mogwai is Gizmo and he comes with a pretty strict set of rules. Keep him out of the light, especially sunlight, do not get him wet, and most importantly of all, never feed him after midnight.
Well, Billy has Gizmo all of like two minutes before the rule about getting him wet gets broken. Once Gizmo gets wet, he multiplies and “gives birth” to several new Mogwai, including one with a mohawk called Stripe which is their leader. What I think is cool here is that you can clearly tell by his reaction that Gizmo has experienced this before.
These new Mogwai are nothing like Gizmo! The new Mogwai cause trouble, bully Gizmo, and are pretty much just jerks and they want to eat after midnight. It is kind of funny the way that the Mogwai manages to trick Billy so that he gives them a huge plate of chicken after midnight!
The reason you are not supposed to feed them after midnight is that that is what turns them into Gremlins. Well, the Mogwai turn into Gremlins and start causing chaos in the house. We have to give credit to Billy’s mom who is a total badass and takes out nearly all of them by herself.
Stripe manages to escape and he jumps into a pool and before you know it the winter wonderland town of Kingston Fall is overrun by Gremlins. Billy and his girlfriend Kate end up on a mission to try and stop the Gremlins from causing trouble and putting a stop to Stripe, this is just a fantastic movie from start to end and it never gets old.
One thing that always amazes me when I watch this movie is how good Gizmo, the other Mogwai, and the Gremlins look. The puppetry here is truly amazing stuff, the 80s really was a golden era for puppets and the scene in the bar is one of my all-time favorites. You just know if this was a modern movie, they would be CG! I love how these “characters” are actually in front of the camera and not made on a computer somewhere.
If you ask me, people should be legally required to watch Gremlins every holiday season, it is that good. It is a rare movie that I have no complaints about at all, I watch this each year without fail and I never get tired of it or notice something I do not like. Christmas classic is thrown around pretty carelessly these days, but this is one movie that is well worthy of that title!
