Insubstantial but fun-to-watch short that brings back the spirit of the original movie. To say anything about the plot would be a spoiler, so suffice to say everything was pretty well done: writing, directing, puppetry, acting, effects. There just wasn't enough to it to make it a high-star showing, but decent enough for a short romp. It stays true to the original and has a sensible premise. Pretty well done for a short fan film.
5 Reviews
A fun fan film.
BA_Harrison27 December 2017
Gremlins: Recall is a fun short made by fans who, like me, are fed up with waiting for Warner Brothers to give us an official third movie (it's been the best part of 30 years since The New Batch).
A company called Wing has created mogwais that can be fed after midnight, soaked, and exposed to bright light, without the proverbial hitting the fan, finally making them the ideal family pet. However, some of the cuddly creatures have proven to be less than perfect; it is up to Owen (Randy Irwin) to collect the recalls and make sure nothing bad happens. Unfortunately, late night diner waitress Claire (Katherine Rodriguez) doesn't realise this and gives the mogwais in Owen's truck a little something to eat...
The creatures themselves might not be quite as animated as those in Joe Dante's movies (I suspect that hiring Chris Walas or Rick Baker's crew wasn't an option), but it doesn't matter that much: it's fun just to see the cute mogwais and mischievous gremlins back on screen again, even if it is just for a few minutes. The acting here isn't at all bad and Ryan Patrick's direction is competent enough: it makes one wish that the film was a bit longer, with a more conclusive ending (and a few more melting gremlins: that part was great!).
A company called Wing has created mogwais that can be fed after midnight, soaked, and exposed to bright light, without the proverbial hitting the fan, finally making them the ideal family pet. However, some of the cuddly creatures have proven to be less than perfect; it is up to Owen (Randy Irwin) to collect the recalls and make sure nothing bad happens. Unfortunately, late night diner waitress Claire (Katherine Rodriguez) doesn't realise this and gives the mogwais in Owen's truck a little something to eat...
The creatures themselves might not be quite as animated as those in Joe Dante's movies (I suspect that hiring Chris Walas or Rick Baker's crew wasn't an option), but it doesn't matter that much: it's fun just to see the cute mogwais and mischievous gremlins back on screen again, even if it is just for a few minutes. The acting here isn't at all bad and Ryan Patrick's direction is competent enough: it makes one wish that the film was a bit longer, with a more conclusive ending (and a few more melting gremlins: that part was great!).
Nicely done overall
Horst_In_Translation6 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
"Gremlins: Recall" is an American 11-minute live action short film from 2017, so neither really new or old, and this one was written and directed by Ryan Patrick, who is also a voice actor in here. And from the title you can already see that this is about the Mogwais, better known as Gremlins in their evil form. One of these Patrick also lends his voice. The action here takes place inside and in front of a little diner where we have a truck driver who carries a great load of cargo that consists of said Mogwais. By the way, i really liked the idea of the prologue here where they show us how science has progressed and turned them safe now. Well, obviously there are other issues as you find out about of course as the film goes on. I think the four actors all did a really good job and Katherine Rodriguez is nice eye candy for sure. I am still curious if this is an unauthorized fan film how come they were allowed to use the terms Mogwais and Gremlins. Aren't they protected? Apparently not or they got permission. But it is not that impoertant anyway. Good thing is they made this one and I enjoyed it just like the two "real" Gremlins films. I am usually fairly critical when it comes to fan-made movies elaborating on big-name franchises, but there is little wrong here. The way they don't show the massacre done by the Gremlin to the woman working at the diner fits in nicely with the tone of real Gremlins films. Yes it is horror, but it is never about bloodbaths or anything. And the subtly funny component most of all through the contrast between supercute Mogwais and evil Gremlins works pretty well too. Maybe the parallel between the movie and the guy who gets injured did not do too much for me, but yeah I am grasping a bit at straws here to find weaknesses with this one. And they maybe could have included the transformation scenes at least once, but I cans ee why they didn't. Special effects are expensive. And could still look cheap. Not too easy to find negative criticisms here and that is awesome. I hope Patrick will make more films in the future. He is not particularly prolific, at least according to imdb. But he has some solid talent I guess and it would be nice too if any of the actors here get a breakthough. The ending here looks like it was intended to just be a long introduction and perhaps there will at least be a short film sequel. I sure hope so. Great fan film, good film by general standards. Go watch and I hope my reeview here can draw some attention to this one. It is clearly underseen and yes I say that despite habing seen the number of views on Youtube for where Patrick uploaded it himself. More fan films should be like this one.
As The Love Continues
southdavid1 December 2021
Having recently watched the two "Gremlins" movies again, I thought I'd check around to see if anything else related was worth watching. The IMDB pointed out "Gremlins Recall", a fan produced short film sequel that was available on Youtube. It was, given the limitations of budget, remarkably accomplished.
Wing Enterprises have genetically modified Mogwais so they can be pets, safe from the nasty side effects caused by breaking the rules. At a small-town diner, Owen (Randy Irwin) pauses from his job collecting unwanted Mogwai, for some food and to find a place to sleep. Claire (Katherine Rodriguez), a waitress in the diner in enchanted by Trink, Owen's own Mogwai and, thinking it's now safe, feeds one in the truck after midnight. Unbeknownst to her, the medicine treating the Mogwai is not 100% effective, and soon a group of evil Gremlins are again on the warpath.
This film does have a number of positives that many short films, particularly fan fiction ones, do not. The performances are good, not Oscar worthy, but the cast are all professional actors rather than friends and family and all three main cast members do a good job. The premise is interesting too, with Mogwai no longer a secret and the actions at Kingston Falls now common, if perhaps forgotten, knowledge.
The only criticism I can really offer is one that's churlish, given the budget constraints and that is that the puppets aren't particularly dynamic, especially facially. The short does it's best to work around this, keeping them in the shadows or scuttling about knocking things over, but everything time we get a 'hero shot' I'm never convinced that the thing is alive. All that said, there's a death scene for one Gremlin, in the final moments. That's as accomplished as anything in the real films.
Even if we never see this expanded to any form of real sequel, it's good enough that I'll be looking for anything Ryan Patrick produces going forward.
Wing Enterprises have genetically modified Mogwais so they can be pets, safe from the nasty side effects caused by breaking the rules. At a small-town diner, Owen (Randy Irwin) pauses from his job collecting unwanted Mogwai, for some food and to find a place to sleep. Claire (Katherine Rodriguez), a waitress in the diner in enchanted by Trink, Owen's own Mogwai and, thinking it's now safe, feeds one in the truck after midnight. Unbeknownst to her, the medicine treating the Mogwai is not 100% effective, and soon a group of evil Gremlins are again on the warpath.
This film does have a number of positives that many short films, particularly fan fiction ones, do not. The performances are good, not Oscar worthy, but the cast are all professional actors rather than friends and family and all three main cast members do a good job. The premise is interesting too, with Mogwai no longer a secret and the actions at Kingston Falls now common, if perhaps forgotten, knowledge.
The only criticism I can really offer is one that's churlish, given the budget constraints and that is that the puppets aren't particularly dynamic, especially facially. The short does it's best to work around this, keeping them in the shadows or scuttling about knocking things over, but everything time we get a 'hero shot' I'm never convinced that the thing is alive. All that said, there's a death scene for one Gremlin, in the final moments. That's as accomplished as anything in the real films.
Even if we never see this expanded to any form of real sequel, it's good enough that I'll be looking for anything Ryan Patrick produces going forward.
STOP TRYING TO REBOOT ORIGINAL FILMS
wendywells622 February 2020
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