1984 appears to be a year in which Hollywood is still fixated. This year was not only a watershed moment for a slew of filmmakers, but it also saw the highest-grossing movie ever released.
Well, if we look at the year in detail, we have blockbuster hits like Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, and The Karate Kid to discuss. Today, though, the entire focus will be on Gremlins, a comic horror film.
The 1984 comedy horror film, which was released on the same day as Ivan Reitman’s Ghostbusters, had quite the coffee klatch or, to put it another way, a dream team behind it.
After all, with a director like Joe Dante, a script by Chris Columbus, a background score by 18-time Academy Award nominee Jerry Goldsmith, and an executive producer like Steven Spielberg, you know you can not expect anything less from the film. Gremlins were the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, with both commercial and critical success.
Those who have seen the film may simply describe it as a scary film. But then there is the matter of why the video was promoted to children in the first place. As a result, numerous ads for Gremlins in 1984 led viewers to believe that the film was suitable for children. Well, if you look at the clip, you will notice a very cute, little hairy creature known as a mogwai.
You would want to cuddle it after just one look. As a result, most parents assumed that the film was intended for children. But what the trailer left out, or rather, did not show, was a swarm of incredibly destructive reptile monsters that erupted from Gizmo’s back after one of the rules was disobeyed.
That is not all; the trailer was very careful not to show the scene in which these creatures murder an elderly lady for no apparent reason, or the scene in which one of them dies horribly inside a blender and another in a microwave.
We will skim over the details of Columbus’ initial script, which featured the Gremlins decapitating Randall Peltzer’s wife, Lynn, and flinging the severed head down the stairwell. I guess it was not actually intended to be a family film! Given the time period, it goes without saying that the film had its share of gore, and there is no disputing that it was capable of scaring the living daylights out of kids back then.
In any case, the film was a great smash, and if we look at it now, it is nearly a classic. It was so popular that it spawned a sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, which we shall talk about later. In today’s video, we will discuss Mogwai, a very destructive reptilian species, and go through it in great depth. You had best be prepared for this trip down memory lane!
The Mogwai’s Origins
Anybody here into Chinese? Well, of course, we have our reasons for asking such a question because the literal Chinese translation of the term ‘Mogwai’ means devil. Going back to Chinese folklore, ‘mogwai’ refers to certain demons that are reported to cause harm to humans.
The onset of monsoon plays a huge factor for them to breed because apparently, rain implies richer and fuller times ahead. If we are to break the word into parts, ‘mo’ is taken from the Sanskrit word, ‘Mara’, which means evil beings.
Both in Hinduism as well as Buddhism, ‘Mara’ shapes the fates of death and desire, that ties people to an eternal circle of re-embodiment and suffering. It is the foundation of evil, and deliberately directs people to wrongdoings and self-annihilation.
Next comes ‘GUI’, which refers to the souls of the dead. Therefore, in modern Chinese, it refers to the dead spirits that may wish to exact revenge on living beings who have inflicted harm upon them or even pain for that matter, when they were still alive.
Coming back to the movie, the character of Randall Peltzer, while searching for a Christmas gift for his son Billy, comes across an antique shop in Chinatown. That’s when he stumbles upon the ‘Mogwai’.
Of course, the proprietor of the shop refuses to sell the creature but his grandson does it anyway without letting his grandfather’s knowledge. The young boy also warns Randall about the Mogwai, citing three simple rules that needed to be followed – to keep the creature away from light, not to get the creature wet and most importantly, to never feed the creature post-midnight.
Well, of course, the rules are inadvertently broken one after the other. This leads to the Mogwai reproducing what later turns out to be scaly, reptilian, mischievous little creatures known as the ‘Gremlins’.
Digging a little deeper into the rules here: the first being they should not be exposed to any sort of bright light, especially sunlight because that could kill them. No wonder, Gizmo keeps shrieking “bright light” whenever he is exposed to such. If you pay close attention to the movie, it seems like he is quite sensitive to bright light and that it causes him great amounts of discomfort and to some extent, even physical pain. The next rule is to keep him out of water.
Wait for it, we will tell you what happens when he gets exposed to water. The movie shows furballs popping out of his back depending on the amount of water he comes in contact with. In other words, Gizmo is capable of reproducing asexually and the furballs that spawn from his back eventually grow into creatures just like him.
On the whole, the creatures look pretty innocent and most importantly, not that interested in harming human beings. But that is till the time you don’t feed a Mogwai after midnight.
The minute one does that or let’s say the creatures are smart enough to trick people into giving them food, they form cocoons which eventually hatch and emerge as ferocious, scaly, reptilian creatures known as ‘Gremlins’, possessing needle-sharp fangs, razor-sharp claws, and high intellect.
Nature-wise, the Gremlins are very violent; they love causing pain, they are always up to some mischief, they love to scare humans to death, and are generally destructive. They are very energetic and love to roam around in packs.
Of course, there is a leader; one who is more dominant and mean-spirited than the others. We are talking about ‘Stripe’, the aggressive one boasting a clump of fur on its head. The other Gremlin leaders were ‘Mohawk’ and ‘Brain’. No points for guessing why ‘Stripe’ and ‘Mohawk’ had such names in the first place. For those who have no clue, it’s because of their strip of fur that the duo boasted which the others didn’t have.
While ‘Stripe’ led the pack, ‘Mohawk’ was more into torturing and tormenting Gizmo. As for ‘Brain’, he was the most intelligent one, so much so that he even replaced ‘Mohawk’ as the leader of the pack.
Beyond The Films
Both the movies, unfortunately, explain nothing about the origin of a ‘Mogwai’ or even Gremlins for that matter. So, when George Gipe adapted the script of the first movie for the novelization, the book did put forth an origin for both ‘Mogwai’ and Gremlins as a prologue.
As per Gipe’s story, the creatures procreated during monsoons, hence asserting why they multiply in numbers whenever they come in contact with water. The original Mogwai, as per Gipe’s story, can very easily be more than a thousand years old.
Their brains are able to process thoughts way faster than words, therefore, they don’t really follow a particular language. But a Mogwai that is created generally has a lifecycle shorter than its creator. They apparently do not have any recollection of their reproductive process or their transformation phases for that matter.
Digging a little further into the story, the ‘Mogwai’ was brought to life by a scientist called Mogturmen; one who desired to create a species that could survive under diverse conditions, be able to procreate rapidly, and be gentle and highly intelligent all at the same time.
While Mogturmen was at his genetic engineering of the Mogwai, the goal was to dispense them to the neighboring planets as galactic diplomats, in the hopes of reinstating harmony in every society.
Coming back to the proprietor of the Chinatown antique shop, Mr. Wing; when he comes to take back Gizmo and says that the western society is still not ready to take the responsibility of a Mogwai, it somehow points towards the fact that we as humans are still not ready for peace.
Mogturmen, in due course, put a halt to his experiments on the Mogwai, especially when their Gremlin side came into focus. And because that was their dormant side, very few were able to hold up to their gentle nature. In short, the species was unstable, but by then the Mogwai had already been dispatched to several planets and that included Earth as well.
The Gremlins Are Coming – Gremlins (1984)
A struggling inventor of dubious skills, Randall Peltzer comes across an antique store in Chinatown. Initially, Peltzer had his usual plans of selling one of his latest inventions, the ‘bathroom buddy’ that he addresses as the invention of the century to the owner of the shop.
But whilst demonstrating his invention, he got lured by the singing mogwai at the back of the store and he goes to check the creature out. One look at it, and Randall already made up his mind to have the furry little creature as a Christmas present for his son, Billy.
But despite placing $200 right in front of Mr. Wing, the proprietor refuses to sell him the creature. However, his grandson, aware of the fact that his family needed the money, gives Peltzer the creature without keeping his grandfather in the loop and tells him to follow three rules – to keep him out of the light, keep him away from water and most importantly, to never feed him after midnight no matter how much he cries or begs.
The scene next moves to Billy, who works at the local bank in Kingston Falls. He is paid a visit by the unsympathetic, grudge-bearing old Mrs. Deagle, who informs him about his pet dog Barney destroying her lawn and how happy she would be to put down the dog. Billy comes back home and so does his father from his trip to Chinatown. Peltzer greets his family ‘Merry Christmas’ and hands, Billy, the mogwai in a wrapped box.
Before Billy opens the gift, thinking it to be a birdcage and then a puppy, Peltzer asks his wife Lynn to dim the lights. Billy opens the box and is startled to find a cute, furry little creature jumping from inside the box. Peltzer tells his son that it’s his new pet, whom he has already nicknamed ‘Gizmo’.
With Lynn attempting to take a picture of Gizmo and Billy, the flash from the camera frightens the little creature as he starts shaking. Peltzer recalls the rules and states them to his wife and son. The next day, Billy has his friend Pete over at his place and while the duo plays with Gizmo, Pete inadvertently spills a glass of water on the creature. Pssst… that’s how the trouble begins!
Gizmo starts screeching and immediately five tiny furballs come straight out of his back one after the other. The furballs start moving and growing bigger in size, and within a few minutes, they turn just like Gizmo. Billy decides to first take one of them to his former science teacher, Mr. Hanson, to have him examine the creature.
Mr. Hanson puts a drop of water on him and is absolutely thrilled to see a new mogwai emerging out of his back in the same manner. So much so that he decides to keep the new mogwai to study him further. Back at home, Billy is actually surprised to see the new batch having a very different personality than their creator. Unlike Gizmo, they aren’t friendly at all.
In fact, they are more on the aggressive side and one of them that has a strip of white fur on its head even tries to bite Billy when he attempts to pet it. Billy names him ‘Stripe’ and it goes without saying that he is the leader of the new batch.
Later, Billy makes a trip to the bar and ends up asking out Kate Beringer, one of his co-workers from the bank whom he romantically fancies. That very night, Stripe and his gang mislead Billy into feeding them fried chicken post midnight, something that he figures out the very next day.
By morning, the new batch of mogwai had molded into cocoons. It’s the same case at Hanson’s, who before calling it a night had left a half-eaten sandwich on the table that the creature had easy access to. The cocoons start hatching and a frightened Gizmo shudders inside a football helmet, watching them emerge as Gremlins, or in other words, exceedingly mischievous, destructive reptilian creatures.
A horrified Billy has his first encounter with the Gremlin at school, who by then had already taken care of Mr. Hanson by shoving one of the blood test syringes straight into his ass.
The Gremlins back at the Peltzer house start torturing Gizmo. They even end up attacking Lynn, who manages to kill one of them by switching on the blender, one by stabbing it with a kitchen knife and the other inside a microwave.
As for the fourth Gremlin, Billy helped Lynn by driving it to the fireplace. Stripe is able to escape to the YMCA, where it ends up jumping right into the pool, generating an army of Gremlins. Their rampage has many dwellers of Kingston Falls getting seriously injured and even dying for that matter.
The latter includes Mrs. Deagle. The Gremlins go to the extent of even holding Kate hostage at the bar, but Billy is able to save her right on time. The duo along with Gizmo manage to hide at the bank, and that’s where Kate discloses to them the real reason why she hated Christmas.
After finding the Gremlins watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the local theater, Billy and Kate are able to blow up the place, killing all of them but Stripe. Determined not to let Stripe escape and wreak more havoc, Billy does everything he can to stop him. However, it’s not till Gizmo has Stripe exposed to the sunlight that the creature is killed, finally putting an end to the horror.
Later, Mr. Wing having found his way to the Peltzer house comes to take back Gizmo with him. He rebukes the Peltzer’s for their actions and tells them that western society is still not ready to take responsibility of Mogwai.
But right before leaving with the creature, he tells Billy that perhaps he will in due course be ready to take care of him. Gizmo bids Billy goodbye and departs with Mr. Wing.
Ever wondered how the idea about these creatures came into existence? Well, you will be quite surprised to know that back when a loft in Manhattan’s garment district was actually home to the then New York University Film School graduate screenwriter, Chris Columbus, he was quite spooked out by a bunch of mice scampering around at night. Who would have ever imagined that it would actually inspire him to make such a movie? Well, that’s Chris Columbus for you.
Here They Grow Again – Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
It has been a few years since the events of the first movie took place. Bill and Kate are currently residing in New York, both working for Clamp Enterprises under the eccentric billionaire, Daniel Clamp.
While Billy is in the department of design, Kate is employed as a tour guide. In the meantime, Mr. Wing has been offered quite a sum of money to sell his antique shop to Clamp, as part of a new project in the particular area. Of course, he refuses but he dies eventually. Post his death, his shop gets taken over and destroyed and as for Gizmo, he is captured and taken to this research laboratory situated in the Clamp office building. The head scientist of the lab happens to be a crazy Doctor Catheter, who has plans of dissecting Gizmo in order to know more about Mogwai. But after Billy learns about Gizmo, he is able to save him along with Kate.
Enthralled by Billy’s expertise in the field of concept design, Clamp makes friends with Billy. However, with one of Billy’s bosses taking him to a restaurant, Gizmo, who is left by himself in the office accidentally manages to get water spilled on him. This results in the birth of four new Mogwai – Daffy, George, Lenny, and Mohawk.
The last one isn’t just the leader of the new pack but is also more like a re-incarnation of Stripe. Imagine the horror when the new batch actually ends up stuffing Gizmo into an open sewer.
On the other hand, Kate having been told by Billy to get Gizmo comes and mistakenly takes Daffy, thinking him to be Gizmo. As for the other three, they make their way past a restaurant and gorge on all kinds of food post-midnight, eventually transforming into Gremlins.
Gizmo is able to escape from the air vent but gets captured by Mohawk and the latter ends up torturing him. The other Gremlins blow up a microwave and start a fire, all in the hopes of catalyzing the sprinkler system.
They are successful in producing their army and eventually throw the entire building into a state of mayhem. Billy is left with no other choice but to brief Clamp about the dark-green, vicious, reptilian creatures.
With Billy trying to tempt the Gremlins into the lobby hoping that they would be exposed to sunlight, Clamp makes his way through a secret tunnel to cover the front of the building in a giant sheet.
Meanwhile, the Gremlins are unable to go out of the building premises enter the research laboratory and come in contact with genetic serums. As a result of the formula they drink, one emerges as the intelligent Brain Gremlin, one becomes a female Gremlin and another becomes this being of pure electricity and kills Dr. Catheter, not before Billy is able to trap it in Clamp’s answering machine.
Billy’s neighbor from Kingston Falls, Murray Futterman who happens to visit New York City with his wife Sheila, also gets attacked by a bat-gremlin hybrid, one that’s impervious to sunlight by the Brain Gremlin with a “genetic sunblock”.
Futterman is able to defend himself by managing to pour cement on it and he enters the building using the same secret route that Clamp took while exiting. He is successful in driving off Daffy, who by then had tied up Billy in a dentist’s chair and was about to experiment on him using a dentist drill. Meanwhile, Mohawk drinks a spider serum and transforms into a dreadful gremlin-spider hybrid, ambushing both Kate as well as Billy’s boss Marla.
But Gizmo, fed up with the other Gremlins constantly bullying and torturing him, saves the duo by killing Mohawk. Gizmo does this by making a bow and a flaming arrow as a weapon. As for the rest of the Gremlins, they assemble in the lobby not aware that the humans have plans of having them exposed to the sunlight.
Yet the plan gets hampered by storm clouds blocking out the sun. Billy comes up with yet another plan to kill the creatures. He has Futterman spraying them with water and then setting free the Electric Gremlin that he had earlier trapped in Clamp’s answering machine. Most of the Gremlins get electrocuted as a result, and the Electric Gremlin ends up exploding.
Clamp finally barges in with the police and press and is absolutely thrilled by the consequences. So much so that he ends up promoting most of them. Billy and Kate come back home with Gizmo. As for Greta, the only female survivor out of the batch of the new Gremlins, she is able to trap Forster, the chief of security, at the highest floor of the state-of-the-art high-rise building. The enamored female Gremlin has finally managed to corner him!
Just imagine the success of Gremlins, that it actually ended up generating a sequel, one that did take things up a notch. Well, one of the opening scenes of the sequel has this aerial footage of New York City on display.
Would you be surprised if we told you that the shot was not really filmed for the sequel? It was stock footage, one that was taken from Sidney J. Furie’s 1987 superhero flick, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. Dante went ahead with it despite the budget he had.
Also, you would not believe this but Dante preferred the sequel more than the original movie. It did come as a shock to many given the colossal success the first movie had. But it is what it is and Dante still has no idea why the 1984 movie became such a big hit in the first place! Well, if you do, please feel free to let us know in the comments section!
Future Of the Franchise
While there have been talks about a third Gremlins movie for literally decades, it is apparently still in active development. But if reports are to be believed, the screenwriter of the original movie, Chris Columbus, has apparently finished the ‘twisted and dark’ Gremlins 3 script.
Amongst the other things that Columbus had stated, the movie will also have the origin of the ‘Gremlins’ taken care of. The third movie is said to be the darkest installment. We’re keeping our fingers crossed here and honestly hoping that the movie finally gets made.
Also, we thought it’d be interesting to let you guys know that HBO Max’s animated series called Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai will be airing on Cartoon Network. For those of you who have no idea about it, the animated series is supposed to be like a prequel to all the films that have been made so far.