Gremlins

Gremlins (1984)

  • 83% of critics liked it
    (53 reviews)

  • 70% of users liked it
    (418,685 ratings)

"Don't expose him to bright light. Don't ever get him wet. And don't ever, ever feed him after midnight." This sage advice is ignored midway through Gremlins, with devastating results. This comic Joe Dante effort is set in a Norman Rockwell-esque small town at Christmastime.… More

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PG,
Directed By
Written By
Chris Columbus
Genres
Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy
In Theaters
Jun 1, 1984 Wide
On DVD
Jun 22, 1999
Warner Bros. Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    The humans are little more than dress-extras for the mechanics.

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

    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.

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    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.

  • Geoff Andrew, Time Out

    Dante gleefully sinks his teeth into the kind of fluffy, sugary, sickly small town fantasy beloved of his pal and sometime producer Spielberg.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    At the level of Serious Film Criticism, it's a meditation on the myths in our movies: Christmas, families, monsters, retail stores, movies, boogeymen. At the level of Pop Moviegoing, it's a sophisticated, witty B movie.

Read all 23 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • KJ P


    For such a serious tone to the film, with such an off-putting idea, "Gremlins" does everything right both in uniqueness and in style. I loved every minute of this film. It is a classic tale of a boy getting a present for Christmas, but this one is an unknown creature (cute… More

  • Emil K


    Gremlins clearly aims to be somekind of mixture of elements borrowed from Steven Spielberg and more traditional monster films. There are moments of of pure comedy and there are moments of some mild horror, but somehow the mixture just does not work. For all of it's running time… More

  • Lucas M


    A criative cult pop movie. Gremlins it's the schizophrenic personification of America fears with a touch of Steven Spielberg.

  • Jeff "


    Gremlins is another film by master director Joe Dante. The film blends Comedy and Horror very well and is a very creative film. What I love most about this film is it's originality, it had me laughing screaming, laughing and really I just had a great time watching this film. If… More

  • Directors C


    Gremlins is a fun classic that will make you laugh out loud. Gremlins made a new image for the monster movie, although out-dated effects by modern standards, its still a really fun watch and will always be worth your time.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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