Story
While on a business trip, struggling inventor Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) visits an unusual antique shop in a remote corner of Chinatown. Instead of selling his product, he buys a Christmas gift for his son Billy (Zach Galligan). When he returns home, Billy opens the gift immediately and discovers an unusual creature whom he calls ‘Gizmo’.
Gizmo (Howie Mandel) is sweet and timid but when he accidentally gets wet, 5 more creatures are spawned from his back. These creatures are not as nice as Gizmo and they trick Billy into letting them eat late at night. This allows them to form cocoons and hatch as mischievous and dangerous monsters called ‘gremlins’.
The gremlins wreak havoc on the town and when the most evil of them all falls into a swimming pool he spawns a whole army of gremlins that kill, maim, or destroy everything they come into contact with. Will Billy and his would-be girlfriend Kate (Phoebe Cates) be able to stop these creatures before it’s too late, or will they die trying?
Themes
Death; horror; murder; crime; monsters; western societal greed; the inability to act in the best interest of nature
Violence
Gremlins has some violence. For example:
- Billy’s dog creates chaos in a bank and breaks a snowman’s head. A woman repeatedly threatens to have him killed, including by placing him into a dryer and tumble-drying him on high heat.
- Gizmo is terrified by a bright light and falls backwards into a bin. He is pulled out by Billy who discovers a nasty gash on his head.
- A baby gremlin snaps at a boy.
- An evil gremlin ties up a dog in Christmas lights and suspends him from a porch while the dog whimpers and howls.
- Suicide is mentioned, including how some people spend Christmas opening their wrists instead of opening presents.
- A science teacher takes blood from one of the gremlins.
- An on-screen horror scene shows weird alien creatures.
- A character tells Billy, ‘If I catch your dog, he is in for a slow death’.
- A science teacher is killed by a gremlin.
- The gremlins throw darts at Gizmo and then dump him down a laundry shoot.
- Billy’s mother kills multiple gremlins in a horrific manner.
- A gremlin throws plates at Billy’s mother and then attacks her and tries to strangle her with Christmas lights while she tries to fight him off with a knife.
- Billy grabs a sword and slams a gremlin into a fire.
- A tractor, driven by a gremlin, bursts out of a shed, knocks down a fence and chases a man while he screams and runs into his house.
- The gremlins chase the man into the house by driving the tractor directly inside. They aim it right at the couple who are screaming as they are pinned beneath the debris. The couple are eventually killed while the gremlins laugh.
- Gremlins toss mail out of a mailbox, then they grab a man’s hand and try to pull him down into the mailbox.
- Gremlins create traffic signal chaos and purposefully cause cars to crash.
- A character roughly grabs the sheriff and begs him for help.
- Gremlins terrify an old woman and break into her house. They short-circuit her wheelchair elevator which is attached to her staircase and cause her to fly through a window and crash onto the street below.
- Gremlins attack a Santa. They bite and hit him, break nearby lights, and generally cause chaos all over the neighbourhood.
- A character tries to electrocute the gremlins.
- A truck crashes into a building.
- The brakes on a police car fail and the car flips onto its side and crashes.
- Gremlins attack a man whilst he’s on the radio. He screams and Gizmo, who is listening, hides in terror.
- Gremlins swing from a fan in a bar and generally destroy the place as Kate attempts to clean up and stop them.
- Kate takes a flash photo of the gremlins which cause one gremlin to be blasted off the fan in surprise.
- A gremlin gets a gun and shoots at Kate.
- The town is shown to be looted, with businesses and cars abandoned or destroyed and multiple fires burning.
- Billy sets up a gas leak in the movie theatre and leaves a rag burning.
- Gremlins chase Billy and Kate, ripping through the screen of the movie theatre, and attempt to pursue them out the door. Billy and Kate use their weight to shove the door closed but creepy gremlin claws try to pry it open.
- There is a massive explosion in the movie theatre. The gremlins are all on fire or are killed in the blast, except for one.
- A gremlin face is shown on multiple TVs. Billy smashes the TVs with a bat.
- A gremlin throws things at Billy and then tries to attack him with a chainsaw. He just misses Billy’s head and instead decapitates a mannequin.
- Billy is hit with tennis balls.
- A gremlin shoots Billy with an archery arrow, through the arm. Billy is hit with additional balls and chased with a chainsaw as he tries to hold off the gremlin with a bat.
- A gremlin is knocked away from Billy and smashed into a wall.
- Gizmo is nearly crushed with falling balls and cans.
- A gremlin shoots at Billy with a gun while trying to make it to a water fountain.
- Gizmo crashes a car and a gremlin shoots a gun at him.
Sexual references
There are no sexual references in Gremlins.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Gremlins has some substance use. For example:
- Characters drink beer and Kate works in a bar.
- A character is shown to be drunk and is about to get into a vehicle when another character tells him that he can’t drive home in that condition.
- A character smokes cigarettes.
- A small group of gremlins smoke multiple cigarettes.
- Gremlins drink mugs of beer and bottles of alcohol.
- One gremlin drinks beer straight from the tap.
- A group of gremlins laugh manically at all the chaos and destruction, while playing poker, smoking and drinking.
- One gremlin passes out, presumably from drinking too much alcohol.
Nudity and sexual activity
Gremlins has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- Two characters kiss in a scene on TV.
- A creepy gremlin flashes Kate while wearing just a trench coat.
- Kate and Billy kiss.
Product placement
Gremlins has some product placement. For example:
- Burger King is shown repeatedly.
- Coke is displayed and consumed.
- Mobile gas station logo is clearly displayed.
- Zenith (television) brand is mentioned.
- Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is mentioned, showcased and certain scenes are shown.
Coarse language
Gremlins has some coarse language. For example, ‘hell’, ‘crap’, ‘damn’, ‘God damn’, ‘arsehole’ and ‘Jesus’. Insults include ‘putz’ and ‘loser’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Gremlins is a comedic, horror movie. Made in 1984, its special effects don’t compare to today’s standards, though they were cutting edge at the time. While some may consider this a family movie, the graphic violence, scary scenes and coarse language make it widely unsuitable for most children. This movie is best suited to older teen and adult audiences.
These are the main messages from Gremlins:
- All actions have consequences.
- If we continue to wreak havoc on nature and the world’s natural resources, terrible things will happen.
Values in Gremlins that you could reinforce with your children include teamwork, honesty, ingenuity, compassion and courage.
Gremlins could also give you the chance to discuss with your children real-life issues like these:
- The importance of looking after the environment and all its creatures.
- How we are all connected and the importance of ecological balance.