A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
- Awards
- 8 wins & 7 nominations
- Man on Street
- (as Don Elson)
- Hungry Child
- (as Daniel Llewelyn)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Top-Rated Christmas Movies to Stream This Season
Top-Rated Christmas Movies to Stream This Season
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe set for Kingston Falls is the same one used for Back to the Future (1985). Both movies were filmed on the Universal Studios backlot.
- GoofsAfter Billy accidentally squirts the shaving cream at his father's face, Mr. Peltzer tries to clean himself off. In the next shot, his face is completely clean, but his chest is covered in it.
- Quotes
Kate Beringer: Now I have another reason to hate Christmas.
Billy Peltzer: What are you talking about?
Kate Beringer: The worst thing that ever happened to me was on Christmas. Oh, God. It was so horrible. It was Christmas Eve. I was 9 years old. Me and Mom were decorating the tree, waiting for Dad to come home from work. A couple hours went by. Dad wasn't home. So Mom called the office. No answer. Christmas Day came and went, and still nothing. So the police began a search. Four or five days went by. Neither one of us could eat or sleep. Everything was falling apart. It was snowing outside. The house was freezing, so I went to try to light up the fire. That's when I noticed the smell. The firemen came and broke through the chimney top. And me and Mom were expecting them to pull out a dead cat or a bird. And instead they pulled out my father. He was dressed in a Santa Claus suit. He'd been climbing down the chimney... his arms loaded with presents. He was gonna surprise us. He slipped and broke his neck. He died instantly. And that's how I found out there was no Santa Claus.
- Crazy creditsAt the very end of the closing credits, once the theme has ended, you can hear the sounds of gremlins laughing.
- Alternate versionsThe HBO Family version deletes 3 scenes involving Gremlins dying.
- ConnectionsEdited into That '70s Show: Christmas (2003)
- SoundtracksChristmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector
Performed by Darlene Love
Produced by Phil Spector
Courtesy of Phil Spector International
Gremlins has long been an annual tradition for movie fans. The cozy, snowy atmosphere of Kingston Falls (which appears to be in upstate New York somewhere but is, in actual fact, Hill Valley at Universal studios) is the perfect small town that we all wish we came from. Even when the Gremlins invade it's a homely place to be envious of.
I was frightened of the Gremlins when I was a kid, but they're really nothing more than gigantic smiles with arms and legs. They exist only to have fun at the expense of human life and private property. I suppose they could be a metaphor for hedonism or apathy. Originally a much more evil script (intended to be an anti-Wonderful Life), Chris Columbus was inspired to write Gremlins as he listened to the rats in his apartment scurry about in the dark during the night. He lightened the material somewhat before filming began, but Joe Dante's wild vision makes it a twisted, festive reality.
Special mention must be made of Jerry Goldsmith's outrageous score and that famous theme tune 'The Gremlin Rag', a demented circus fanfare of anarchy and mayhem. It's crazy to think that we had to wait 27 years to get released on CD. It's one of the first movie themes I even began humming as a young child, and I still do to this day.
Gremlins sparked the rise of Chris Columbus as a creative force in Hollywood. Only 25 at the time of filming his career has been made up of classics, and Christmas classics, such as The Goonies, Young Sherlock Holmes, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Harry Potter, and Bicentennial Man. Joe Dante never scored a bigger hit, but his subsequent career significantly defined 80s and 90s cinema with movies such as Innerspace, The 'burbs, Gremlins 2, and Small Soldiers. Goldsmith scoring every one of them until his death in 2004 (and movie scoring has simply never recovered from this loss).
Neither of them knew the massive franchise and fan-following which Gremlins would provoke, but it certainly deserves it's place in pop culture history.
- CuriosityKilledShawn
- Aug 3, 2000
- Permalink
Holiday Movie Posters We Love
Holiday Movie Posters We Love
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Gremlins - Kleine Monster
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $11,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $153,642,180
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,511,634
- Jun 10, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $153,906,897
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1