Gremlins (1984)

Director:

Joe Dante

Writer:

Chris Columbus (written by)

Release Date:

8 June 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous.

Plot:

A boy inadvertantly breaks 3 important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.

Plot Keywords:

Pet | Midnight | Small Town | Creature | Gremlin

Awards:

7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Hoyt Axton	...	Randall Peltzer
John Louie	...	Chinese Boy
Keye Luke	...	Grandfather (Mr. Wing)
Don Steele	...	Rockin' Ricky Rialto (voice)
Susan Burgess	...	Little Girl
Scott Brady	...	Sheriff Frank
Arnie Moore	...	Alex
Corey Feldman	...	Pete Fountaine
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Mr. Anderson
Zach Galligan	...	Billy Peltzer
Dick Miller	...	Murray Futterman
Phoebe Cates	...	Kate Beringer
Polly Holliday	...	Ruby Deagle
Donald Elson	...	Man on Street
Belinda Balaski	...	Mrs. Joe Harris
Daniel Llewelyn	...	Hungry Harris Child
Edward Andrews	...	Mr. Corben
Judge Reinhold	...	Gerald Hopkins
Lois Foraker	...	Bank teller
Chuck Jones	...	Mr. Jones
Kenny Davis	...	Dorry
Frances Lee McCain	...	Lynn Peltzer
Glynn Turman	...	Roy Hanson
Nicky Katt	...	Schoolchild
Tracy Wells	...	Schoolchild
John C. Becher	...	Dr. Molinaro
Gwen Willson	...	Mrs. Molinaro
Jackie Joseph	...	Sheila Futterman
Jonathan Banks	...	Deputy Brent
Joe Brooks	...	Dave Meyers (Santa)
Jim McKrell	...	Lew Landers (WDHB-TV reporter)
Frank Welker	...	Stripe / Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Howie Mandel	...	Gizmo (voice)
Fred Newman	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Mark Dodson	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Michael Winslow	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Peter Cullen	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Bob Bergen	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice) (as Bob Berger)
Michael Sheehan	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Bob Holt	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Mushroom	...	Barney
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Karen Bean	...	Girl in Town Square
Adam Bean	...	Boy in Town Square (uncredited)
Tom Bergeron	...	TV News Reporter (uncredited)
Jerry Goldsmith	...	Man in Telephone Booth Glancing at Camera (uncredited)
Marvin Miller	...	Robby The Robot (voice) (uncredited)
Dean Rader-Duval	...	Ron (uncredited)
Robby the Robot	...	Robot (uncredited)
William Schallert	...	Father Bartlett (uncredited)
Steven Spielberg	...	Man in Electric Wheelchair (uncredited)
Kenneth Tobey	...	Mobil Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)

Directed by
Joe Dante

Writing credits
Chris Columbus		(written by)

Produced by
Michael Finnell	....	producer
Kathleen Kennedy	....	executive producer
Frank Marshall	....	executive producer
Steven Spielberg	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography by
John Hora		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Tina Hirsch

Casting by
Susan Arnold

Production Design by
James H. Spencer

Set Decoration by
Jackie Carr

Makeup Department
Greg LaCava	....	makeup artist
Cheri Ruff	....	hair stylist
Chris Walas	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Phil Rawlins	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carol Green	....	second assistant director
James Quinn	....	first assistant director

Art Department
John Alvin	....	poster artist
Bruce Edwin Gregory	....	assistant property master
William F. Matthews	....	set designer
Michael Muscarella	....	construction coordinator
Mark Sparks	....	propmaker
Harold Weed	....	model maker
Marty Wunderlich	....	property master

Sound Department
Richard L. Anderson	....	supervising sound editor
Warren Hamilton Jr.	....	sound editor
Alan Howarth	....	special sound effects
Nicholas James	....	sound effects editor
Ken King	....	production sound mixer
Rick Kline	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark A. Mangini	....	supervising sound editor
Steve Maslow	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kevin O'Connell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Stephen Purvis	....	dialogue editor (as Steve Purvis)
John Roesch	....	foley artist
Joan Rowe	....	foley artist
Solange S. Schwalbe	....	assistant sound editor
David E. Stone	....	sound editor
Bill Varney	....	sound re-recording mixer
Douglas Vaughan	....	boom operator
Tim Mangini	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Donald C. Rogers	....	technical director of sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Anna Albrecht	....	creature effects crew
Bob MacDonald Jr.	....	special effects
Robert MacDonald	....	special effects
Thaine Morris	....	mechanical effects
Richard Ratliff	....	special effects foreman
Ken Speed	....	special effects assistant
Richard Stutsman	....	special effects foreman
Chris Walas	....	creator: Gremlins
Jeffrey A. Wischnack	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Rocco Gioffre	....	matte artist
Bill Hansard	....	process photography
Michael Joyce	....	model shop supervisor
Randy Ottenberg	....	creature crew
Tom St. Amand	....	creature crew
Eric Guaglione	....	miniature model maker: motion control miniature effects: DQI (uncredited)
Hoyt Yeatman	....	matte photographer: DQI (uncredited)

Stunts
Rudy Doucette	....	stunts
Rosemary Johnston	....	stunts
Mike H. McGaughy	....	stunt coordinator (as Mike McGaughy)
Mike H. McGaughy	....	stunts
Gene McLaughlin	....	stunts
Terry Leonard	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Burnett	....	second assistant camera: additional photography
Norman Cattell	....	first assistant camera
Michael B. Corbett	....	lighting technician
Adam Glick	....	set lighting technician
Norman Harris	....	gaffer
Albert Hood	....	electrician
Paul Jacobsen	....	electrician: practical fixtures
Michael A. Jones	....	camera operator (as Michael Jones)
William Kenney	....	dolly grip
Ron Kenyon	....	electrical best boy
Robert Miller	....	best boy grip
Richard Moran	....	key grip
John C. Moulds	....	first assistant camera
Ralph Nelson	....	still photographer (as Ralph Nelson Jr.)
Lex Rawlins	....	second assistant camera
Stephen St. John	....	steadicam operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norman A. Burza	....	costume supervisor: men
Linda Matthews	....	costume supervisor: women

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Tom Finan	....	assistant editor
Robert Raring	....	color timer
David Williams	....	apprentice film editor

Music Department
Bruce Botnick	....	music re-recording mixer
Robert Fernandez	....	music re-recording mixer
Robert Fernandez	....	music scoring mixer
Kenneth Hall	....	music editor
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator
Michael Sembello	....	song producer
James Thatcher	....	musician: French horn

Transportation Department
Robert Neilson	....	transportation coordinator
Dave Robling	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Brent Baker	....	creature crew
Jon Berg	....	creature consultant
Ray Berwick	....	animal coordinator
Bill Buttfield	....	creature crew
Blair Clark	....	machinist
Blair Clark	....	puppeteer
Robert Cooper	....	creature crew
Jay Davis	....	creature crew
Randy Dutra	....	creature crew
Kenneth Gilbert	....	script supervisor
Helene Harris	....	assistant: Mike Finnell
Rob Harris	....	unit publicist
James Isaac	....	creature crew
Erik Jensen	....	project coordinator
Pete Kleinow	....	creature crew
Kelly Lepkowsky	....	creature crew
Marghi McMahon	....	creature crew
Tony McVey	....	creature crew
Thaine Morris	....	creature crew
Gregg Olsson	....	creature crew
Randy Ottenberg	....	creature crew
Gary Platek	....	creature crew
Chris Rand	....	creature crew
Bryan Renfro	....	animal trainer
Karen Shaw	....	production secretary
N. Theodore Shell	....	creature crew
Valerie Sofranko	....	creature crew
David Sosalla	....	creature crew
Steven Spielberg	....	presenter
Eben Stromquist	....	creature crew
Kathleen Switzer	....	assistant to producer
Kirk R. Thatcher	....	creature crew
Carol Walas	....	creature crew
Mark Walas	....	creature crew
Harold Weed	....	creature crew
Ethan Wiley	....	creature technician
Michelle Zeisel	....	assistant: Joe Dante
Laurie Arnow-Epstein	....	construction accountant (uncredited)
Jim Lau	....	voice actor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (a Warner Communications company) (presents)
• Amblin Entertainment

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Chapel Distribution (2000) (Australia) (theatrical) (new 35mm print re-release)
• Columbia-EMI-Warner (1984) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Bros. (1984) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1984) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1987) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1984) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1989) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Pioneer LDC (1988) (Japan) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (Canada) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1985) (UK) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1990) (Japan) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (Japan) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1985) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (25th anniversary edition)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Dream Quest Images (matte paintings)
• Fantasy II Film Effects (stop motion)
• Visual Concept Engineering (VCE) (animation)
• Chris Walas (creature design: Gizmo and the Gremlins designed, created and operated by)

Other Companies

• Cinema Research  titles and opticals
• Geffen Records  provided courtesy of: "Make It Shine"
• CBS Records  provided courtesy of: "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
• Walt Disney Productions  courtesy of: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" footage (as © 1937 Walt Disney Productons)
• Panavision  cameras and lenses by
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production (as Dolby Stereo)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Iceland:10 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Ireland:15 | UK:15 | Netherlands:12 (DVD version) | South Korea:All | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Netherlands:AL | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Colonial Street, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The picture of Rockin' Ricky Rialto is a picture of Don Steele.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Billy goes in to the Y.M.C.A "Stripe" jumps out at Billy and Billy lands on the floor and the tear marks are already on his shirt before "Stripe" claws his chest.

Quotes:

Billy Peltzer:They're Inside.
Kate:All Of Them?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Dancing with the Stars 4 (#8.129)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

GREMLINS...MEGA-MADNESS

One of my personal favorites...

Some films are not what they seem. Take "Gremlins" (1984) for example. It is the story of a small-town kid who acquires a strange creature that spawns a pack of menacing green beings that terrorize the inhabitants of the cheery little area.

A silly idea, yes, but surely a fun one, and surely one to be cherished. It isn't technically a great movie, or even a very good one, but it doesn't mean to be. The genius lies in the modest scale of the film -- it isn't just a crude horror film with evil alien species (see "Critters"), but a tongue-in-cheek parody of the rest, that still manages to fit in a few thrills along the way as if by accident.

Thank Joe Dante for this movie. And thank him for providing us with magnificent and imaginative films over the years. He is one of cinema's great underrated directors, the man responsible for bringing other creatures to life very often, whether it is werewolves or small toys or Looney Toons.

The movie is centered around Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan), the small-town kid mentioned above who is handed a Mogwai by his father (Hoyt Axton), who picked the puffy furball up in Chinatown during one of his routine salesman trips. Billy's father is a sort of failed inventor, reminding us of the frizzle-haired Doc Emmett Brown played by Christopher Lloyd in "Back to the Future," only not quite as eccentric. "Back to the Future" came out a year after "Gremlins," and the two are similar in the way they entertain -- silly little ideas that nevertheless become almost genius. Time travel was a myth before "Back to the Future," which turned it into an adventurous notion, a way of being able to transport people back in time to see their own parents. (H.G. Wells himself hadn't even approached these topics, and I can guarantee he would have never sparked a relationship between the sibling and his mother.)

"Gremlins" is milestone movie-making magic, a simple idea like "Back to the Future," stretched out into a bigger picture. I won't kid you -- it's not as complex as "Future" is, but it doesn't need to be, and certainly doesn't want to be. It relies on humor and charm, and it has plenty of it.

Billy works at the town bank, hounded by the city grouch (Frances Lee McCain) and threatened by the vice president (Judge Reinhold). His long-time sweetheart (Phoebe Cates) works there, too, and at the local bar, occupied by drunks at night (and on occasion some nasty gremlins). The town loon (Dick Miller) is convinced there are gremlins about, and soon he is right.

"Don't ever get them wet," Billy is more or less told by his father. "And don't feed them after midnight." (See if you can spot the huge flaw in that rule.) Well, the small little Mogwai, Gizmo (voiced in burps and small cutesy sentences by Howie Mandel), does get wet, and spawns a set of fellow furballs -- all apparently mean-spirited and vile. And after tricking Billy by cutting the power on his clock, they get fed after midnight -- and basically evolve overnight into a bunch of green, nasty little gremlins, all of which continue to spawn throughout the town and cause absolute chaos.

Will Billy defeat the gremlins, get the girl, and save the town? Take a wild guess.

Everything Joe Dante touches is usually magic. Even his live-action/animation film "Toy Soldiers" was a load of fun because of its charming disposition. Dante doesn't try to make his films anything other than what they are -- charming and wildly, wickedly funny -- and that is undoubtedly the key to the outrageous success of "Gremlins," one of the biggest box office moneymakers ever released.

I wasn't a huge fan of the sequel, even though I have it in my DVD collection right next to the original. It lost the darkness of campiness of the original and went for all-out laughs (many of which failed) instead of the laugh-out-loud laughs of the original, which were concealed within a film that actually made sense (in some ways) and still managed to be dark and fun. The sequel also introduced the mandatory Goofy Idiot Character. In fact, it had two -- a Donald Trump-like manager and a gremlin that more or less belonged in The Three Stooges, and definitely not in a movie about menacing creatures. In fact, another of the first film's highlights was the way it made its creatures dark, hurtful, and just plain funny. (People complained that the launching of Frances Lee McCain out a window was too much, but come on.)

As a whole, I didn't think that the sequel worked especially well. But it has as big a fan following as the original in some respects, for those who favor goofy, pointless cash-ins over original, hysterical movies.

I wouldn't expect many people to love "Gremlins" as much as I do, but its charm is certainly worth commenting on -- and so is its wicked humor. Dark, chaotic and pretty darn infectious, the film's sense of humor quickly kicks into boot even during the campy voice-over narrative. The whole film is campy. And unlike something like "Critters" (which I loathe), this film is endearing and fresh and funny and has a bunch of likable characters -- especially Gizmo, the favorite and most infamous little critter ever seen on screen, and Stripe, the lead gremlin whose unfortunate frying incident at the end of the film actually makes you sad. No sequel for that little creep.

5/5 stars.

- John Ulmer