Gremlin

Not an entirely bad movie. The story concept has a lot of promise. An insidious curse is placed on a mysterious box that contains a blood thirsty gremlin. Before the gremlin is released, the person in possession of the box must pass it off to someone they love, or the gremlin starts killing everyone around them.

It's actually an entertaining movie with some pretty bad acting. Not all acting is bad, but enough to raise eyebrows many times throughout the movie. A few actors are pretty good.

The nail in the coffin was what the writers did with the script. There were some seriously illogical (dumb) decisions made in the movie. Why on Earth would the characters do some of the things they did? No answers, except some seriously bad plot writing. There was so much more the writers could have added and subtracted to make this a good film. Like redo the dad character and add maybe add a little more X-Files like mystery to the detective. And darken the film and give the creepy critter some shadows to hide in like old 70's flicks with horrifying creatures that hide in the dark.

Otherwise, it was entertaining and had a couple scenes I didn't anticipate.

Not as cheesy as ScyFy flicks. Could have been on par with other creepy critter flicks with more budget, small plot rewrites, and more creative camera work. Maybe a big studio will get some ideas later.

This is an ok horror movie. a story that isn't full of surprises or anything so you see where it is going but the acting isn't as bad as in most of these such flicks and there's some really good jump scares.

Saw this on a rented dvd. Had seen the trailer n was excited. Apart from the name there is nothing in common with the 1984 movie of the same name. Inspite of some very good kills, good pacing, decent creature effects n cinematography, there was something lacking in this film. The acting was awful but i still feel something more was missing. In fact, the creature doesnt hesitate to kill n no mercy is shown to anyone n no time wasted in unnecessary jump scares. It is a horror film with no holds barred. Unlike most horror films where they end in such a way that the cops never believe the mythological stuff, here in this film, the creature comes out in the open leading to action n mayhem. Mayb, the director tried to b different from other horror films n it backfired. One grave n clear mistake the makers of this film did was that they showed on the posters the climax of the film of the creature with its full size n out in the open. But the posters showed some helicopters as if its a large scale action/horror film which was a lie as there were no helicopter scenes.

Gremlin, a story about a rather dangerous box, was surprisingly entertaining. I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting, although since it was listed with a comparable movie of "Gremlins", I was at least expecting a few more giggles. There were a few giggles to be had, but Gremlin doesn't try to be anything other than a horror- movie you rubberneck at. And that is to its credit. The exact premise is one that I don't actually think I've come across before. It's amazing how sometimes just a small tweak can add a new dimension to something. 

Adam Hampton proved strong in the male lead role, and I found myself rooting for him even when though he wasn't really a particularly likable character. His wife, Julie Thatcher, was played by Kristy K. Boone. Boone's performance had moments when it was fairly strong, but wavered frequently. I think if Katie Burgess, who played the daughter, did a good job, but wasn't able to bring out her full potential. The rest of the supporting cast, apart from the brother and the main detective, were unmemorable. Catcher Stair, who played the young boy, Charlie Thatcher, gave the weakest performance of the lot. It felt like the child had no real desire to be in the movie, and his character was almost a cardboard cutout as a result.

Gremlin had a surprisingly high production quality with some solid cinematography for their budget. Unfortunately, it was hampered by some regrettably bad special effects at some points.  Thankfully, the special effects were relatively few, and most of the on-screen magic was a CGI 'Gremlin' that wasn't horrible. I've seen, much, much worse. It looked interesting, and watching it go after the various actors was a good bit more entertaining that you would think. 

The main problem I had with it was that some of the decisions that family members make are just flat-out stupid. And not only stupid, but stupid stuck on a loop. I found myself yelling at the screen at least twice when watching it. (Upside, I was involved enough in what I was watching that I actually did yell at the screen?)

Overall, Gremlin was a pleasant surprise to watch. I've got the attention span of a flea, and I found myself wanting to see how things ended. It wasn't a great movie, by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't bad. I don't regret watching it, and might even tune in for a re-watch at some point!

Disclaimer: I received a screener of this film from October Coast Publicity for review consideration. This did not influence my review in any way.

If you enjoyed The Gate (1987) you will enjoy this.

The acting is low caliber, but it doesn't detract from the movie. I've seen worse acting in recent Hollywood blockbusters.

Definitely worth a watch.