Gremlins (1984)

Director:

Joe Dante

Writer:

Chris Columbus (written by)

Release Date:

8 June 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous.

Plot:

A boy inadvertantly breaks 3 important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.

Plot Keywords:

Pet | Midnight | Small Town | Monster | Gremlin

Awards:

7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Hoyt Axton	...	Randall Peltzer
John Louie	...	Chinese Boy
Keye Luke	...	Grandfather (Mr. Wing)
Don Steele	...	Rockin' Ricky Rialto (voice)
Susan Burgess	...	Little Girl
Scott Brady	...	Sheriff Frank
Arnie Moore	...	Alex
Corey Feldman	...	Pete Fountaine
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Mr. Anderson
Zach Galligan	...	Billy Peltzer
Dick Miller	...	Murray Futterman
Phoebe Cates	...	Kate Beringer
Polly Holliday	...	Ruby Deagle
Donald Elson	...	Man on Street
Belinda Balaski	...	Mrs. Joe Harris
Daniel Llewelyn	...	Hungry Harris Child
Edward Andrews	...	Mr. Corben
Judge Reinhold	...	Gerald Hopkins
Lois Foraker	...	Bank teller
Chuck Jones	...	Mr. Jones
Kenny Davis	...	Dorry
Frances Lee McCain	...	Lynn Peltzer
Glynn Turman	...	Roy Hanson
Nicky Katt	...	Schoolchild
Tracy Wells	...	Schoolchild
John C. Becher	...	Dr. Molinaro
Gwen Willson	...	Mrs. Molinaro
Jackie Joseph	...	Sheila Futterman
Jonathan Banks	...	Deputy Brent
Joe Brooks	...	Dave Meyers (Santa)
Jim McKrell	...	Lew Landers (WDHB-TV reporter)
Frank Welker	...	Stripe / Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Howie Mandel	...	Gizmo (voice)
Fred Newman	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Mark Dodson	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Michael Winslow	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Peter Cullen	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Rob Berger	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice) (as Bob Berger)
Michael Sheehan	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Bob Holt	...	Mogwai / Gremlins (voice)
Mushroom	...	Barney
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Karen Bean	...	Girl in Town Square
Adam Bean	...	Boy in Town Square (uncredited)
Tom Bergeron	...	TV News Reporter (uncredited)
Jerry Goldsmith	...	Man in Telephone Booth Glancing at Camera (uncredited)
Marvin Miller	...	Robbie The Robot (voice) (uncredited)
Robby the Robot	...	Robot (uncredited)
William Schallert	...	Father Bartlett (uncredited)
Steven Spielberg	...	Man in Electric Wheelchair (uncredited)
Kenneth Tobey	...	Mobil Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)

Directed by
Joe Dante

Writing credits
Chris Columbus		(written by)

Produced by
Michael Finnell	....	producer
Kathleen Kennedy	....	executive producer
Frank Marshall	....	executive producer
Steven Spielberg	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography by
John Hora		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Tina Hirsch

Casting by
Susan Arnold

Production Design by
James H. Spencer

Set Decoration by
Jackie Carr

Makeup Department
Greg LaCava	....	makeup artist
Cheri Ruff	....	hair stylist
Chris Walas	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Phil Rawlins	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carol Green	....	second assistant director
James Quinn	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Bruce Edwin Gregory	....	assistant property master
William F. Matthews	....	set designer
Michael Muscarella	....	construction coordinator
Harold Weed	....	model maker
Marty Wunderlich	....	property master

Sound Department
Richard L. Anderson	....	supervising sound editor
Warren Hamilton Jr.	....	sound editor
Alan Howarth	....	special sound effects
Nicholas James	....	sound effects editor
Ken King	....	production sound mixer
Rick Kline	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark A. Mangini	....	supervising sound editor
Steve Maslow	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kevin O'Connell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steve Purvis	....	dialogue editor
John Roesch	....	foley artist
Joan Rowe	....	foley artist
David E. Stone	....	sound editor
Bill Varney	....	sound re-recording mixer
Douglas Vaughan	....	boom operator
Donald C. Rogers	....	technical director of sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Anna Albrecht	....	creature effects crew
Bob MacDonald Jr.	....	special effects
Robert MacDonald	....	special effects
Thaine Morris	....	mechanical effects
Richard Ratliff	....	special effects foreman
Ken Speed	....	special effects assistant
Richard Stutsman	....	special effects foreman

Visual Effects by
Rocco Gioffre	....	matte artist
Bill Hansard	....	process photography
Michael Joyce	....	model shop supervisor
Randy Ottenberg	....	creature crew
Tom St. Amand	....	creature crew
Eric Guaglione	....	miniature model maker: motion control miniature effects: DQI (uncredited)
Hoyt Yeatman	....	matte photographer: DQI (uncredited)

Stunts
Rudy Doucette	....	stunts
Rosemary Johnston	....	stunts
Mike H. McGaughy	....	stunt coordinator (as Mike McGaughy)
Mike H. McGaughy	....	stunts
Gene McLaughlin	....	stunts
Terry Leonard	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Burnett	....	second assistant camera: additional photography
Norman Cattell	....	first assistant camera
Michael B. Corbett	....	lighting technician
Adam Glick	....	set lighting technician
Norman Harris	....	gaffer
Albert Hood	....	electrician
Paul Jacobsen	....	electrician: practical fixtures
Michael A. Jones	....	camera operator (as Michael Jones)
William Kenney	....	dolly grip
Ron Kenyon	....	electrical best boy
Robert Miller	....	best boy grip
Richard Moran	....	key grip
John C. Moulds	....	first assistant camera
Ralph Nelson	....	still photographer (as Ralph Nelson Jr.)
Lex Rawlins	....	second assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norman A. Burza	....	costume supervisor: men
Linda Matthews	....	costume supervisor: women

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Tom Finan	....	assistant editor
Robert Raring	....	color timer
David Williams	....	apprentice film editor

Music Department
Bruce Botnick	....	music re-recording mixer
Robert Fernandez	....	music re-recording mixer
Robert Fernandez	....	music scoring mixer
Kenneth Hall	....	music editor
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator
Michael Sembello	....	song producer

Transportation Department
Robert Neilson	....	transportation coordinator
Dave Robling	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Brent Baker	....	creature crew
Jon Berg	....	creature consultant
Bill Buttfield	....	creature crew
Blair Clark	....	machinist
Blair Clark	....	puppeteer
Robert Cooper	....	creature crew
Jay Davis	....	creature crew
Randy Dutra	....	creature crew
Kenneth Gilbert	....	script supervisor
Helene Harris	....	assistant: Mike Finnell
Rob Harris	....	unit publicist
James Isaac	....	creature crew
Erik Jensen	....	project coordinator
Pete Kleinow	....	creature crew
Kelly Lepkowsky	....	creature crew
Marghi McMahon	....	creature crew
Tony McVey	....	creature crew
Thaine Morris	....	creature crew
Gregg Olsson	....	creature crew
Randy Ottenberg	....	creature crew
Gary Platek	....	creature crew
Chris Rand	....	creature crew
Bryan Renfro	....	animal trainer
Karen Shaw	....	production secretary
N. Theodore Shell	....	creature crew
Valerie Sofranko	....	creature crew
David Sosalla	....	creature crew
Steven Spielberg	....	presenter
Eben Stromquist	....	creature crew
Kathleen Switzer	....	assistant to producer
Kirk R. Thatcher	....	creature crew
Carol Walas	....	creature crew
Chris Walas	....	creator: "Gremlins"
Mark Walas	....	creature crew
Harold Weed	....	creature crew
Ethan Wiley	....	creature technician
Michelle Zeisel	....	assistant: Joe Dante
Laurie Arnow-Epstein	....	construction accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (a Warner Communications company) (presents)
• Amblin Entertainment

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Chapel Distribution (2000) (Australia) (theatrical) (new 35mm print re-release)
• Columbia-EMI-Warner (1984) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Bros. (1984) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1984) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1987) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1984) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1989) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Pioneer LDC (1988) (Japan) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (Canada) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1985) (UK) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1990) (Japan) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (Japan) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1985) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Dream Quest Images (matte paintings)
• Fantasy II Film Effects (stop motion)
• Visual Concept Engineering (VCE) (animation)
• Chris Walas (creature design: Gizmo and the Gremlins designed, created and operated by)

Other Companies

• Cinema Research  titles and opticals
• Geffen Records  provided courtesy of: "Make It Shine"
• CBS Records  provided courtesy of: "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
• Walt Disney Productions  courtesy of: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" footage (as © 1937 Walt Disney Productons)
• Panavision  cameras and lenses by
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production (as Dolby Stereo)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Iceland:10 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Ireland:15 | UK:15 | Netherlands:12 (DVD version) | South Korea:All | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Netherlands:AL | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The movie that Lynn Peltzer is watching in the kitchen is It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Early in the hatching scene, Rand Peltzer states to his wife that it is Christmas Eve. Later in the scene, the high school science teacher is showing a film to his students. It's hard to believe that an American school would be in session on Christmas Eve.

Quotes:

Ruby Deagle: I want your dog.
Billy Peltzer: Barney?
Ruby Deagle: Give him to me. I'll take him to the kennel, they'll put him to sleep. It will be quick and painless compared to what I would do to him.
Billy Peltzer: What could you do?
Ruby Deagle: I'll catch the beast myself. He'll get what he deserves, a slow painful death.Maybe I'll put him in my spin-drier on high heat.
Mr. Anderson: That would do it all right!
[Barney then jumps from the bank counter and smashes Mrs Deagle's snowman head and starts barking at her]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Seth Rogen/Phoenix (#34.19)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?

Silly but fun horror movie for teens with a mean streak running alongside the cartoon violence

Billy's dad is an inventor and is always looking for cool presents for this son. So just before Christmas, when he finds a strange creature called a mogwai in a dark shop in Chinatown, he just has to have it despite the refusal of the owner. The rules for looking after the mogwai (who they rename Gizmo) are simple but an accident sees some water spilt on him, causing a handful more to reproduce from this one. Billy notices a difference between Gizmo and these new creatures but the full extent of the difference isn't clear until he mistakenly breaks the rule on feeding times and a whole new creature emerges.

Criminally screened in the middle of the afternoon by Channel 4 recently (they edited out anything unsuitable for a daytime audience) this film is a lot of fun on many levels. At the start the film exists within an all-American small town with snow on the streets, a sense of community and white picket fences everywhere. It is a world that perhaps owes more to Spielberg more than director Dante but it is a world that the latter takes great pleasure in perverting once the film gets going in earnest. The plot is simple and straightforward, mostly relying on the build-to and delivery of the gremlins' antics and the attempts to stop them. In doing so it produces a great fun horror for older teens and adults. It funnier more than scary but it still manages to do the latter well enough to do the job for the younger element of the audience.

The manic humour in the "horror" is well done and it produces great energy throughout. For adults there is another element in the usual referencing from Dante. It is occasionally clumsy here but mostly it is unobtrusive and funny – Dante never seems to let the film main get away from him and keeps the dark tone going even when his action is a bit silly. The cast are very much secondary to the creatures and their antics (whether it be the cute Gizmo or the much more fun gremlins) and their performances reflect this. Galligan is average while Cates is quite nondescript. Support is OK from the likes of Axton, Feldman and Miller but mostly they are all second fiddle to the creatures.

Overall though this is an enjoyable horror movie for younger audiences. It is very, very slightly scary as instead it is darkly funny during the violence. It is engaging even if it gets silly at times and the material is strong enough for an adult audience while also providing lots of film references for those that get them.