Monster Movie of the Week: Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH

Director: Joe Dante

Genre: Comedy/Horror

Country: USA

THE MOVIE

The original Gremlins was an uneasy mix of comedy, horror and holiday movie and was notable for its dark and violent moments. The sequel is more of a wacky comedy that mixes the occasional piece of sharp satire with an anarchic cartoon sensibility. It lacks much of the darkness and violence and the Capra-esque location of the original but makes up for it with its inventiveness and sheer lunacy.

This is a movie that manages to make fun of just about everything, including itself. I mean, you have to love a movie that features scene in which a pair of gremlins discover a cabinet filled with vials with labels like “ACID: Do Not Throw In Face” (being a Gremlin, he immediately throws the other’s face.) Unlike most sequels, which revere the originals, Gremlins 2 goes out of its way to mock the original movie with fun spins on Kate's dark Christmas monologue and even the illogical rules of Mogwai care ("It's always after midnight somewhere.")

Gremlins 2 continues several years after the original in which Gizmo’s elderly owner at the little Chinatown shop is in danger of being razed by millionaire and mega-developer Daniel Clamp (based on a pre-crazy Donald Trump). Gizmo escapes and is brought to a weird genetics lab in the ridiculously modern and automated Clamp Tower, coincidentally, where Billy and Kate also work, having moved to NYC to make it big. Needless to say Gizmo gets wet and wacky hijinks ensue. The Gremlins break into the genetics laboratory and all hell breaks loose. The movie has a lot of fun with all these weird mutant gremlins.

Unfortunately Gremlins 2 was not a big hit and the prospects of another entry in the series are remote. One reason speculated for the low box office of the sequel was that about seven years had passed between the two movies and “Gremlinmania” had died down. I was a kid when the first movie came out and let me tell you, kids went nuts for that movie. Those same kids were probably less interested as teens.

I should also say that I am forever regretful that I did not see this movie in the theater as it has an infamous sequence that simulates a projection breakdown and the theater's subsequent take over by gremlins, one of many funny references to the earlier movie. For a few wonderful minutes you would have believed that the projector actually was broken. This effect was recreated for both VHS and cable versions of the movie, but the cinema version is the one that would have had the audience going for the longest.

THE MONSTERS/EFFECTS

The effects are a lot better than the first movie but the main improvement is the diversity of the gremlin designs. They don’t all look like clones of one another as they did in the original. Even the Mogwai are very distinct from one another and they start out with distinct personalities and looks. My favorite is the really adorable Daffy Mogwai. These looks even carry over to the gremlin designs, so you have about a dozen distinct "hero" gremlins that stand out from the masses.

The movie also exploits the Genetic Lab subplot and has the gremlins mutate into different forms such as the Spider Gremlin, Bat Gremlin, Veggie Gremlin, Electro-Gremlin, Brain Gremlin, and many more, even including a Tranny Gremlin, which shares a memorable moment with Robert Picardo.

SEQUELS

None planned. Although, something tells me Gremlins is ripe for a reboot.

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

Widely available on DVD, yet, sadly, unavailable on Bluray.

TRIVIA

The original special effects man for this movie was Chris Walas who declined to work on the sequel so that he could direct The Fly II. Make up guru Rick Baker was lured on to the project with the promise that he could make the gremlins more diverse.

The toy company NECA recently showcased a Gremlins 2-themed wave of action figures coming summer of 2011.

TRAILER



Patrick Garone
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Monster Movie of the Week: HOLIDAY EDITION Gremlins (1984)

GREMLINS (1984)

Director: Joe Dante

Genre: Horror/Comedy/Holiday

THE MOVIE

Joe Dante’s Gremlins created a good bit of controversy when it was released in 1984. It was advertised as a PG rated, Steven Spielberg-produced kids movie featuring a friendship between a teenager and his fuzzy little pet, Gizmo. The promotional materials made the movie seem like it would be the next E.T. When parents took their kids to see it, however, they found themselves in a sometimes violent, scary and black humored hybrid of horror and comedy and Christmas movie. Directly because of Gremlins and Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom the PG-13 rating was created. And of course, Joe Dante’s movie inspired a ton of movies in the 1980’s that featured mischievous pint sized monsters.

Holy shit, that's cute.

Looking back on it, I found the movie deeply satisfying as an eight-year old. Gremlins had everything my young mind wanted in a movie: a cute and exotic little pet, scares, plenty of gore, and an anarchic sense of humor. It was one of those times in your life the right movie hits your at the exact time when you are ready to appreciate it. So while, Gremlins is not exactly a kids movie, at the same time it really is a movie that is perfect for kids. It is scary but not too scary, it is smart but not too smart, gory but not too gory. Okay, maybe some parts of it are too gory. But at least it is gremlin gore and not human gore.

The reason why Gremlins is the best Christmas movie ever.

Gremlins is the story of Billy Peltzer, a teenager who receives a special pet from his father. The pet was bought in a mysterious shop in Chinatown and it is a little animal called a mogwai. Billy’s father names it Gizmo and relays three very important rules to his son: Keep it out of the light, sunlight will kill it. Don’t get it wet. Never ever feed it after midnight. Of course, each of these rules gets broken during the course of the movie. When some water is spilt on little Gizmo, he produces a number of little fluffballs that become new mogwai. Worse of all, while Gizmo is cute and sweet, the new mogwai are all little a-holes. When Billy accidentally feeds the new critters after midnight they molt into creepy cocoons like something out of Alien. The cocoons hatch into toothy and sharp-clawed gremlins who reproduce and wreak havoc in the town.

Stickers, trading cards, gum. What more can you ask for?

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

There are few movie characters who can go toe to toe with Gizmo in absolute cuteness. And it is not an annoying cuteness like an Ewok or Minya. Gizno is just genuinely adorable and he has been known to reduce grown men into cooing Japanese school girls. He’s just that damn cute.

A lot of people don't know this, but Gizmo was the original composer of Axel's theme from Beverly Hills Cop. It's true.

The cool thing about the movie is that the gremlins are as nasty as Gizmo is cute. They look like anorexic evil Yodas. They dance, shoot each other, eat candy, bite, scratch and raise hell. They are what every little kid really would do without parental supervision, which is why the movie was so popular with kids when it came out.

Gremlins on Christmas Eve
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Both Gizmo and the gremlins are realized through different kinds of puppets and animatronics and even some stop motion with various degrees of success. Some shots look really good, some not so good. Give ‘em a break, it was the early ‘80’s.

DVD AVAILABILITY

A couple of different versions are available. Neither one has too much in terms of extras. I would like to see a superduper deluxe version.

A bluray was just released but I don't think it includes any other features than what were on the Deluxe DVD. Kinda sad since 2009 was the 25th anniversary.

Cutegasm.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

There are really quite a few. Seeing it again, I love the sequence where Billy’s mom single-handedly fights off three gremlins that have infested her kitchen. You would think she would just turn around and get the hell out but instead she pulls a Sigourney Weaver and dispatches them with various utensils and appliances, concluding with a sequence where she fights one into a microwave and nukes him.

As a kid, the medicine cabinet scene scared the crap out of me.

SEQUELS

Gremlins 2: The New Batch was released in 1990 and took the series into a wildly comedic

direction. If you liked the bar and movie theater scenes in the original you will love the sequel.

SEE ALSO

Small Soldiers 1998

Gizmo, ka-ka!

MINORITY REPORT

The verdict:

The Black Guy Dies First. Billy’s science professor, who is apparently the only black guy in town is the first to die at the hands of the gremlins.

Also, on a related note, there were charges at the time of the movie's release that the gremlins behaved in what some would consider very stereotypically “black,” ways, particularly in the bar scene.

THE TRAILER