[net.movies] TRoTN Movie Review - GREMLINS

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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