Review #320: Gremlins (1984)
The Twelve Slays of Christmas #6 - Gremlins (1984) [This movie doesn't appear to be streaming anywhere for free; it's on most platforms with a subscription, and there's a few playlists on YouTube that look like the full movie spread out over 30+ short videos, but I'm not about to test any of them to find out. If you subscribe to Amazon Prime, Hulu, Roku, Philo, or Max, it should be included in your subscription.] It's been a LONG time since I've seen this movie- maybe thirty years? Maybe longer. Gremlins is one of the films responsible for the creation of the PG-13 rating (along with Poltergeist and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) and I think the lack of a PG-13 rating at the time is a huge factor in why this movie so tightly straddles the line between horror and comedy. Does it succeed at both? I guess I'll get to that. Gremlins is a story about a teen named Billy whose eccentric father buys him a mysterious pet for Christmas- a mogwai named Gizmo. M...