Taking the dog from his father brings him terrible, as Billy Beltzar, a young teenager guy, who enjoys with his friends, once his life turns down, after accepting to raise a small dog named Mogwai, as he does not follow his father's advice in raising him, the thing that turns the small cute dog into a dangerous monster.
What's confusing yet ultimately illuminating is the way his gremlins function as a free-floating metaphor, suggesting at separate junctures everything from teenagers to blacks to various Freudian suppressions.
Think of A Christmas Carol visited by The Birds. Think of The Muppet Movie run amok. Imagine a berserk film editor splicing It's a Wonderful Life to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with quoting from Snow White and a nod to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
There is satire here: a sense of silly but thoughtful consideration on the Christmas traditions and how easily all the relatable facades crumble as a consequence of simple illusions being so easily shattered.
Here's the season's most delicious and unexpected surprise. Despite the horror-flick title, Gremlins is a movie of wicked wit and startling invention, and it has a heart that's at least a match for the special effects.
Chicago Reader
November 27, 2007
Dante is perhaps the first filmmaker since Frank Tashlin to base his style on the formal free-for-all of animated cartoons; he is also utterly heartless.
