In fact the movie that has most impacted me and my life isn’t a very good movie at. It’s very flawed. A structural and tonal mess. And yet I love it. I’m not alone (thank God) because this film has a cult following. The film I speak of is...
GREMLINS.
The 1984 Warner Bros. horror-comedy directed by Joe Dante and Executive Produced by Steven Spielberg. In fact it is the first film released under the newly formed Amblin Entertainment. Gremlins was originally scripted by Christopher Columbus (director of Home Alone and first two Harry Potter films) as a straight out horror creature feature. Spielberg decided to blend tones by making the Gremlin creatures be just as funny as they are scary. Director Dante took that note and ran with it. The film was a huge hit with a minor controversy over the film’s violence for a PG rated film which along with Indiana Jones And The Temple of Doom motivated the need for a new rating PG-13.
Why does this movie speak to me? To answer that I have to mentally travel back in time to when I was a child. I recall seeing a commercial for the television broadcast premiere of Gremlins around the time the second film was opening in theaters. The images of Christmas, monsters both furry and scaly, green slime, and the terrific theme by Jerry Goldsmith tugged ay curiosity. I saw only half of the movie (with numerous commercial interruptions). I recall having to go somewhere to do something with my Dad. What I saw had such an impact on me that I begged my Mom to rent the video. She did more than that... she bought it. I remember sitting in the car alone while my Mom went inside. She came out and held the VHS up to the window with a smile. I probably watched that VHS tape a bazillion times. In fact I was banned from watching it because I would act like a Gremlin after watching it. To outsmart my parents I switched the cases of Gremlins and E.T.. That way when my parents asked me if I was watching Gremlins I could show them the empty E.T. case and say that was what I was watching. It didn’t work.
What Gremlins did for me was spark my imagination. It was such an odd mix of humor and horror that I wasn’t sure when to laugh. As I look back to the short films I’ve directed or the features I’ve written I notice a odd humor that I think comes subconsciously from the awkwardness of numerous Gremlin viewings as a child. I was a weird kid and my love for that movie just pushed me further out into strange-dom. During a parent teacher conference, Mrs. Simms my second grade teacher showed various drawings of creatures and monsters to my Mom expressing concern over the unusual imagery. My Mom asked me not to draw that stuff at school.
Now when I watch the film I see the flaws. It can’t make up its mind if it wants to be a horror or a comedy. Some of the jokes and references are so dated that they no longer have resonance. And of course there is the infamous sad Santa story that I go back and fourth on how I feel about. But watching it makes me recall how I felt at age five or six watching the film. Little odd details that made in impression to me as a child.
Perhaps I love Gremlins because it reminds me of my childhood. The days when I didn’t have to work to earn money and play was my biggest concern. One thing is for sure, Gremlins impacted and molded my imagination as child. Then, Star Wars took off where Gremlins left off.
Twenty some odd years later I still draw monsters.
Just so you know: Corey Harnish and I went to film school together. We were in all the same classes freshman year. During school, we liked to dine out together and gossip about people.
