Gremlins

Directed by Joe Dante, Gremlins details the chaos that ensues after a father (Hoyt Axton’s Randall Peltzer) gives his son (Zach Galligan’s Billy Peltzer) the gift of a strange little creature eventually named Gizmo – with Gizmo eventually, through no fault of his own, responsible for creating an entire army’s worth of the mischievous, violent title creatures. Filmmaker Joe Dante, working from Chris Columbus’ script, does a fantastic job of immediately luring the viewer into the well-paced and increasingly engrossing proceedings, as Gremlins boasts a fairly irresistible premise that’s heightened by Dante’s sterling visuals and a raft of engaging, ingratiating performances – with, in terms of the latter, Galligan’s incredible affable turn as the sympathetic protagonist matched by a strong supporting cast that includes Phoebe Cates, Frances Lee McCain, and Dick Miller. (This is to say nothing of the effectiveness of the movie’s various oddball creatures, as the Gizmo and the gremlins are completely captivating and, in the case of the latter, impressively frightening.) And although the picture’s midsection is occasionally just a little too focused on the title monsters’ goofy, kid-friendly antics, Gremlins builds towards a captivating third act that ensures the whole thing ends on a palpably spellbinding note – which ultimately does cement the film’s place as a genuine classic that holds up remarkably well all these years later.

***1/2 out of ****

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