dyer@wivax.UUCP (Stephen Dyer) (05/23/84)
I think it all comes down to one's tolerance for silliness, especially in a context which isn't thoroughly silly, as in this movie. It is the inconsistency of the film that left me exasperated. The carnage and destruction just wasn't amusing, because the actions of the gremlins were not purely mischevious, but downright evil. Thus, I couldn't "let myself go" and laugh when, for one example, a gremlin took hold of a tractor, ran it into the living room of a house, and killed the couple next door to the sitcom family. We came to know these characters, a bit flakey, with the husband's "American Made" chauvinism, but still good characters. What are we to do when they are so callously killed off? Contrast this with the woman who is so clearly a cartoon ripoff/homage of the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz. She, too, gets her comeuppance, but here it is humorous. One is constantly changing gears, changing one's perceptions of how one should react to the events. I never was able to get a handle on just what Spielberg/Dante was trying to do--what is their "vision" here? It all seemed rather arbitrary and incoherent to me. I agree with your descriptions of the evil gremlins--they are indeed like that particular Muppet character. And there are lots of gratuitous old-movie references, for the treasure hunters who need something to take their minds off the story. By the way, I'd be interested to know what you (or others) thought of the Christmas motif in the movie. Was the sitcom girlfriend's description of finding her father dressed as Santa Claus serious or just frat-house gross-out material? Did the movie make any comment at all about holidays and Christmas? I didn't see any evidence of this--it might as well have been the middle of summer for all it mattered. Despite all the allusions to "It's a Wonderful Life", I can't imagine ever seeing this on TV around Christmas time! -- /Steve Dyer decvax!bbncca!sdyer sdyer@bbncca