Here are four key reasons why Gremlins is a classic Christmas movie.
Is Gremlins a Christmas movie?
Gremlins’ Christmas setting is integral to its plot and presentation.
Set in the fictional, Rockwellian town of Kingston Falls (an echo of It’s a Wonderful Life’s Bedford Falls, no doubt), Gremlins is set in motion when well-meaning-if-irresponsible father Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) gifts curly-topped, wide-eyed teen son Billy (Zach Galligan) with a Mogwai, Following a disastrous breaking of Wing’s three Mogwai rules (never get it wet, no bright lights, don’t feed it after midnight), lovable Mogwai “Gizmo” replicates, and little green goblins (enough cannot be said about Chris Walas and Rick Baker’s animatronic puppetry, pre-CGI) threaten to overthrow the snowed-in, yuletide-adorned down—with Billy, Gizmo, and Billy’s girlfriend Kate (Phoebe Cates) in pursuit. Like many Christmas movies, including the Christmas movies we don’t always necessarily think of off the bat as “Christmas movies,” Gremlins’ setting is no coincidence. The production design brightly incorporates the yuletide throughout; more importantly, Gremlins’ story, characters and morals remind us of what we value this time of year.
Billy Peltzer is the kind of lovable everyman who’s always appealing—but especially at Christmastime.
Played with subtle charm and affable modesty by Galligan, Billy Peltzer is indeed this Christmas tale’s George Bailey or John McClane. Honest, hardworking and the kind of moral, non-money-motivated character we love to see succeed around the holidays, Billy isn’t tempted by greed and his motivations are purely wholesome. He’s loyal to his family and pooch, and he romances Kingston Falls resident babe Kate (Phoebe Cates) like a gentleman. Speaking of: Was there ever been a more attractive on-screen couple in the ’80s than this one?
Gremlins is a yuletide morality tale— where Scrooges get their comeuppance!
In many Christmas movies, part of the appeal is seeing Scrooges either learn their lesson or pay the price. The chief antagonist of Gremlins is—ya know—the Gremlins (and their Billy Idol-lookalike leader Scar), but the real villain? That’s heartless, wealthy old grinch-witch Ruby Deagle (PollyHolliday). She’s really the only rich person in humble Kingston Falls, and she runs the bank. We grimace early in the film as she callously talks down to Kingston’s poorer residents, and even more as threatens lovable pup Barney (a dog actor Spielberg was outspoken in his affection and admiration for). Deagle is this film’s Mister Potter—and, maybe even more explicitly, this film’s Almira Gulch. She suffers a grisly, Rube Goldberg-like demise—and it’s super fun! A softer subplot also offers a cautionary tale: Billy’s dad is careless in keeping the Mogwai because he sees dollar signs, naively and selfishly imagining “the Peltzer pet” flying off the shelves. The greedy plan backfires horribly, though ultimately Randall is forgiven by everyone including his family. To reiterate: Gremlins is a red-blooded, gleefully violent movie ostensibly aimed at kids. People die, there’s blood and gut and the “microwave scene” is infamous. Fun fact: The same summer Gremlins came out, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was also released in theaters—both with PG ratings, which enraged parents and ultimately led to the MPAA’s creation of the PG-13 rating. The first PG-13 film? That same year’s Red Dawn.
Gremlins has an evergreen message about crass consumerism that’s especially relevant at Christmastime.
Like other all-time Christmas classics—It’s a Wonderful Life, A Miracle on 34th Street and even Die Hard—part of Gremlins’ mass appeal is its likable characters who choose things we value over the greed and materialism that looms especially heavily over the holidays. The foremost pleasure of Gremlins (and the crux of its marketing) is the sight of those little monsters wreaking havoc, and it definitely delivers on that. There’s more to it, though: Gremlins is a movie we feel good about watching because we’re proud of the characters. Not unlike other Christmas movie essentials. While we’re here, it’s certainly worth mentioning 1990’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch, an underrated and extremely pleasurable dose of anarchy that’s somehow more satirical and more chaotic than the first. The Christmas stuff is mostly jettisoned, but the film (whose reputation and esteem has deservedly grown over time) is a riot. Together, the Gremlins films are a top-notch holiday double bill. Is Gremlins one of your favorite holiday movies? Sound off in the comments. Next, check out the 100 best movies of all time, ranked.
