{"id":32640,"date":"2016-06-29T06:30:19","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T18:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=32640"},"modified":"2016-06-26T18:56:55","modified_gmt":"2016-06-26T06:56:55","slug":"big-worlds-on-small-screens-fantasy-films-from-the-eighties-that-werent-that-bad-rebecca-fisher-discusses-gremlins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2016\/06\/29\/big-worlds-on-small-screens-fantasy-films-from-the-eighties-that-werent-that-bad-rebecca-fisher-discusses-gremlins\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Worlds On Small Screens & \u201cFantasy Films From the Eighties That Weren\u2019t That Bad\u201d \u2014 Rebecca Fisher Discusses “Gremlins”"},"content":{"rendered":"

~ by Rebecca Fisher<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether or not you’ve seen Gremlins<\/strong>, I’d stake money on the chance you know the rules surrounding their existence. When bringing home an exotic pet called a mogwai, there are three things you must never, ever do:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Never expose it to bright light.<\/li>\n
  2. Never let it get wet.<\/li>\n
  3. Whatever you do, never<\/em> feed it after midnight.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"gremlins<\/a><\/p>\n

    \u00a0These are the rules that inevitably get broken when Mr Peltzer brings home a cute and cuddly mogwai for his son Billy. Although I’m always bemused by just how casually the Peltzer family accepts the presence of an entirely undiscovered species into their household, Billy grows extremely fond of the pet he calls Gizmo.<\/p>\n

    \"gremlins2\"<\/a>Who wouldn’t grow fond of him? He’s adorable!<\/em><\/p>\n

    But then the inevitable happens. With a few splashes of water, Gizmo multiples into several more mogwais, and when these<\/em> considerably more mischievous creatures trick Billy into giving them food after midnight, they transform into the terrifying gremlins.<\/p>\n

    Now it’s up to Billy and his would-be girlfriend Kate to stop the gremlins from terrorizing the town and ruining Christmas.<\/p>\n

    Gremlins<\/strong> did well enough at the box-office to warrant a sequel, and is perhaps best remembered for its special effects. At the time Gremlins<\/strong> was a trailblazing movie for its use of mechanical puppets, sparking a number of copycat films that also attempted to capitalize on the technique (for example: Ghoulies<\/strong>, Critters<\/strong>, Munchies<\/strong>, Hobgoblins<\/strong> \u2013 I promise I’m not making any of these up).<\/p>\n

    \"gremlins3\"<\/a>Why you shouldn’t get them wet…<\/em><\/p>\n

    But watching Gremlins<\/strong> as an adult made me realize that despite my fond memories of getting scared half-to-death as a child, it’s an oddly constructed film.\u00a0 The film’s first act introduces an array of townsfolk, many of whom go missing entirely once the gremlins start their rampage.<\/p>\n

    Other scenes seem random to the point of bizarre \u2013 anyone who has already seen the movie will know exactly what I’m talking about when I mention Kate’s story about her father’s disappearance. It has no bearing on the story, it’s grisly and upsetting, and after she confides to Billy about it, it’s never mentioned again!<\/p>\n

    \"gremlins<\/a>Kate tries to fend off the gremlins at the local pub<\/em><\/p>\n

    It’s one of those movies that some kids will love and others will be traumatized by, but re-watching it after so long reveals that it’s also a very strange movie, one that moves a bit uncomfortably between horror and comedy. Still, it’s since become a cult classic on account of its amazing puppetry and unforgettable premise, and for those reasons deserves a place on this list.
    \n.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Next Time:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    The reboot is just around the corner, so let’s finish this column off with the ultimate in 80s fantasy-horror-comedy: Ghostbusters<\/strong>.<\/em><\/span>
    \n.<\/span><\/p>\n

    About The Reviewer:<\/h3>\n

    \"\"<\/a>Rebecca Fisher is a graduate of the University of Canterbury with a Masters degree in English Literature, mainly, she claims, because she was able to get away with writing her thesis on C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. She is a reviewer for FantasyLiterature.com<\/a>, a large website that specializes in fantasy and science-fiction novels, as well as posting reviews to Amazon.com<\/a> and her They\u2019re All Fictional<\/a> blog.<\/p>\n

    To read Rebecca\u2019s detailed introduction of both herself and the series, as well as preceding reviews, click on:<\/p>\n

    Big Worlds On Small Screens<\/a><\/h3>\n

    Rebecca won the 2015 Sir Julius Vogel Award<\/a> for Best Fan Writer, for writing that included Big Worlds On Small Screens<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    ~ by Rebecca Fisher Whether or not you’ve seen Gremlins, I’d stake money on the chance you know the rules surrounding their existence. When bringing home an exotic pet called a mogwai, there are three things you must never, ever do: Never expose it to bright light. Never let it get wet. Whatever you do, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-worlds-on-small-screens-with-rebecca-fisher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32640"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32649,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32640\/revisions\/32649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}