trb@drutx.UUCP (BuckleyTR) (07/10/84)
from The Review of The News, 7/4/84
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Grim Laughs
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Whether your taste in entertainment runs to the cliff-
hanging adventures of Indiana Jones, sentimental stargazing
with Mr. Spock and his friends, or observing people with
names like "Boogaloo Shrimp" fraying the seats of their
trousers on the pavement in back-alley ballets, anyone in
search of summer diversion will find no shortage of it in
the movie theaters. While Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd
continue to scare up large audiences with their super-
natural antics in "Ghostbusters," Steven Spielberg has
pulled another outlandish creature out of his bag of
cinematic tricks to elicit coos, shrieks, and howlish
laughter.
This time, Spielberg reintroduces us to a bizarre freak of
nature that can be alternately cute and cuddly or vile and
vicious. In one manifestation, it appears deceptively
harmless and appealing, its body - parts of which are
bundeled in soft fur - in a constant state on animation.
However, it can quickly transform into a loathsome, snarling
creature that rallies others of its kind through the streets
creating chaos and destruction. It displays contempt for
modern technology and was once accused of sabotaging the
American was effort.
No, Steven Spielberg has not produced a motion-picture
comeback for Jane Fonda. Instead, he has littered the
screen with GREMLINS, an uproariously grotesque fantasy that
makes one think of a Disney film directed by Charles Manson.
The title characters are represented by marvels of
puppeteering effects for which Spielberg is rapidly earning
the reputation of Hollywood's most revered toymaster.
Indeed, judging by all of the "oohing" and "aahing" emitting
from the audience when the first friendly gremlin reared its
fuzzy little noggin, we fully expect to see mass-produced
versions become the Cabbage Patch sensation of the next
Christmas season.
Though produced by Steven Spielberg, the directorial credit
for "Gremlins" goes to Joe Dante, who demonstrated his
ability for bringing cartoon monstrosities to life in one
segment of "Twilight Zone - The Movie."
The trouble starts at Christmastime in a small Middle
American community when Hoyt Axton, as a congenial inventor
of invariably backfiring household contraptions, brings home
a box containing an irresistibly huggable pet he picked up
in a Chinatown novelty store. As his wife and son, Frances
Lee Mc Cain and Zach Galligan are so used to Dad producing
strange objects that they hardly flinch when they set eyes
on the gnomish animal that could pass for a J.R.R. Tolkien
conception of a teddy bear, complete with the heart of E.T.
and the eyes of Bambi.
No sooner are we resigned to a confectionary plot that would
melt the heart of Yasir Arafat than Spielberg and Dante
spring their devilish trap, jolting us with the strangest
metamorphosis since Dr. Jekyll went into Hyding. It seems
that exposure to water causes the critter to multiply faster
than a rabbit on Welfare, and feeding after midnight turns
the resultant offspring into... well... try to imagine E.T.
with rabies.
Suddenly the town is in the grip of a demon hoarde, the
likes of which can only be described as a Frankenstein
composite of Hollywood's most popular creations. Each
gremlin has the ears of Yoda, the teeth of Bruce the shark,
the smile of Jack Nicholson, and the disposition of Mr. T.
Once the gremlins take over, one's perception of reality is
cheerfully surrendered as the nasty varmints are given full
reign to do their malicious stuff, which ranges from maiming
and murdering to blowing their noses on the living-room
drapes.
The performances by the live members of the cast are
sufficiently energetic to keep pace with the raucous goings
on, though all are easily upstaged by their animated
counterparts. The only pouts we perceived were from pert
teen star Phoebe Cates, as Galligan's girlfriend, apparently
perturbed to find herself in a film that need not rely on
her undressing to attract an audience.
Occasional profanity and the sometimes grossly homicidal
behavior of the gremlins account for the PG rating attached
to this Warner Brothers release.
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The Review of The News, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, Mass. 02178
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Tom Buckley
AT&T Information Systems
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