Gremlins (1984)

Imagine you're Chris Columbus, y'know, the dude who wrote The Goonies, but before that. Oh, and before you directed Home Alone... and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York... and two Harry Potter Films... and Adventures in Babysitting. Imagine you are living in squalor and the rats in your New York City apartment inspire you to write about creepy crawlers. Then, suppose Steven Spielberg, director of Jaws, E.T., and Indiana Jones buys that script and wants to produce it. Without that almost unfathomably unlikely series of events, we would not have this week's episode on Gremlins. Columbus' initial draft of the script was much grimmer, featuring the death of Barney, our hero's beloved pup, decapitations, and much more. The script underwent many rewrites, with several members of the cast and crew indicating they settled around 10! Directed by Joe Dante (Piranha, The Howling, Masters of Horror) this small budget holiday film was an incredible financial success, spawning a sequel and two international theme park rides! The special effects were by Chris Walas (The Fly, Return of the Jedi, Humanoids from the Deep), who proudly boasted that many effects in the final cut of the film were developed just the day before shooting. There were so many puppets and practical effects in the film that they lost count. In several sequences, puppeteers had to have a puppet on each hand and even on top of their heads! Zach Galligan (Waxwork, Hatchet 3, Nightbeasts) plays Billy Peltzer. Billy has aspirations of much more than being a bank teller and is entrusted with great responsibility by his father, played by Hoyt Axton, when he is given an incredibly unique Christmas present. Gizmo, Billy's Christmas present, is played by Howie Mandel (Little Monsters). Phoebe Cates (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Drop Dead Fred) plays basically the antithetical role to her red-bikini-wearing seductress, and plays Kate, a well-intentioned, hard working small town girl. She also gives one of, if not my absolute favorite monologues in all of film history. Corey Feldman play's Billy's friend, Pete. If you are confused as to why Billy is so much older than his little friend (*in Scarface voice*) it is because Billy was originally the same age, until he was aged in later drafts of the script. The film has some astounding cameo talent from the late Dick Miller to Judge Reinhold. While the movie is all the better for it, unfortunately the majority of Reinhold's part was cut, as the unnecessary real estate subplot was left on the cutting room floor. Miller, who plays the somewhat soothsaying Murray Futterman, was so excellent in this bit part that he was brought back for the sequel: Gremlins 2: The New Batch. In this episode, we review the film delve into the history and trivia, and Jake gives his hair-brained theory as to why this film, The Howling, and Indiana Jones are all in a shared universe. We also take excerpts from the very bizarre novelization of the film by George Gipe. Gipe also did novelizations for Back to the Future and Explorers! By this point, he had also written The Man with Two Brains! This week's "Hidden Track" is Bone Church with their song: Pale Moon Sacrifice. https://bonechurch1.bandcamp.com/ ; https://www.facebook.com/bonexchurch/ Also, be sure to check out Danny Bones' podcast: https://themoviesnack.blubrry.net/author/themoviesnack/ If you ever have feedback or recommendations on future episodes, please let us know at [email protected]. You can always find us on our social media: Instagram, Twitter, Slasher App: @slasherspod Facebook: /slasherspod Reddit: u/slasherspod https://www.youtube.com/c/slasherspodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices