One of the slightly more beat-up comics I've come upon, I simply couldn't resist that cover. Monsters. Skeletons. Even what appears to be a vampire...but they have nothing to do with the first story, alas. Still...can you ever get anything better for Halloween than a group of ghouls just having a good time? I don't think so.
The first story is a nicely dark twist, which seems to be fairly uncommon in many of the stories, as rarely do we tend to see more than the occasional gruesome ghost...I rather liked these old man-goblins in their odd little way. The second one is a little reminiscent of the a simple little 30s or 40s farce you'd watch in-between movies.
Fresh from the theaters after giving Krampus a go, I was reminded why I liked Gremlins. First things first, I would like to say I did not hate Krampus at all. There may have been points where it seemed to drag, or I just didn't like the choices made by the writers, it was definitely a visual feast with some awesome combinations of physical and digital effects...which is a very difficult line to straddle.
BUT...it didn't capture what Gremlins did back in 84. I don't really blame Krampus for this. I blame Gremlins...for being just that awesome. Gremlins captures the seasonal spirit of Christmas without becoming bitter. It has no message about families losing their sight of what really matters. It's just a story about evil little creatures that terrorize a small, but charming town on Christmas. And...that's kind of all I want to watch this year. I won't be foregoing my traditional viewing of Black Christmas, but...I just love Gremlins so much. Even the sequel.
It's got a great cast, a charming soundtrack, fantastic physical effects, and a sweet storyline...but it's still creepy enough to be classified as a comedy horror. What's more, it's something you can actually enjoy with kids, rather than certain other Christmas classics such as 'Silent Night, Deadly Night', or 'Treevenge'.
If you somehow have managed to avoid seeing Gremlins, because television is a relatively new discovery in your region of the world, or if you just...avoided it...or even have seen it, but not in quite some time. Do yourself a favor. Give Gremlins a shot this month. And don't feed them after midnight, trust me, I'm still cleaning up the green sludge in the kitchen.
As I'm sure you're all aware, anything crafted to look like a human being is creepy. Anything crafted to look like a human being that actually comes pretty close is really creepy. Anything crafted to look like a human being that comes to life and actually sucks you into another dimension, then effectively murders you and entraps your soul in a similar form...well, that one is great for a film plot.
Forgiving the quality of the trailer, the dvd and vhs are a little better. There are so many movies out there with wax museums as the main focus of the horror, but this is the only one I'm aware of where it's not just people being murdered and having their bodies hidden in the figures...it's people being sucked into the world's of the creatures, and turning into wax sculptures if they die there. It's a delicious piece of 80s camp I could watch a hundred times or more, and probably have, now that I think about it.
It starts with a man being murdered and robbed, to the tune of some classic swing, and from there the adventure begins. Mark, played by the amazingly awesome Zach Galligan, also known as the defeater of the gremlin army, having an intimate breakfast with his mother. Maybe it's just the length of the table and the obnoxious centerpiece talking, but I gather they aren't too close...
Then we meet Mark's ex-girlfriend, China, who to put it bluntly...is a bit promiscuous. She's chatting it up with the good girl Sarah, when suddenly...
This place appears out of nowhere, then-
OH GOD, IT'S DAVID WARNER! This isn't good...especially not when he invites them to come to his waxwork that night...
The low budget is a given, and there are very minor outdoor moments with some shaky camera-work...but only really if you're looking. My point being I'm not here to pick at the bad bits, only talk about the awesome ones. This movie...is the good side of 80s camp. The sequel is also pretty epic, too. In fact, I'd advise you to watch both. Seriously, they're absolutely amazing. Here, I'll throw in some extra pictures for you, just in case the point hasn't been driven home yet...
