Over the Christmas / New Year holiday time the New Zealand Herald
newspaper ran this series of articles with journalists giving their
suggestions for New Zealand's favourite family film for The Great
Family Film Poll ...


*Gremlins*
When I was a kid, family movies were traumatic. It
seemed movie-makers took macabre delight in cramming
their films with grisly scenes guaranteed to leave
lasting psychological damage on the young minds
watching them.

Just a few examples; Return of the Jedi's gargantuan
Ranco monster chomping down a guard in Jabba's Palace,
Dorothy learning the horrifying truth behind Princess
Mombi's hall of disembodied heads in Return to Oz and
Hudge Doom's screams of pain as acid burned him away
in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

As an adult, it's hard to see where the horror lies,
but as a wide-eyed impressionable kid each and every
one of those scenes scared the bejezus out of me. These
films always had happy endings, but boy did directors
make you sweat to get there.

I think it was Gremlins that was the scariest. It's
also the one I loved the most.

Like the best family movies, Gremlins carries a
valuable message for kids. It highlights the importance
of following the rules and horrifically demonstrates
the consequences of breaking them. Sure, it's unlikely
that any rule a child breaks will directly lead to a
ghastly end but nevertheless it's still a good lesson
for children to learn.

But I didn't love Gremlins for its moralising. I loved
Gremlins for the adorable cuteness of its fluffy star
Gizmo, the sheer bad-assery of the evil Gremlin leader
Stripe and for the twisted dark comedy that lightens
even the darkest moments of the film.

I also really dug its anarchic streak. Gremlins felt
crazy and wild in a way other movies didn't. Qualities
impossible for any kid to resist.

Some say Gremlins is inappropriate for kids and the
Motion Picture Association of America would agree. The
movie was instrumental in the PG-13 advisory rating
being created. But this happened too late for me. I saw
it on the big screen aged 7 and I turned out (mostly)
okay.

Basically, Gremlins is a cuddly horror flick, full of
disturbing imagery and violent death that'll likely
cause a few nightmares. But it's also a Christmas film
that's full of festive spirit. And as such I recommend
you screen it for your kids this holiday season.

It'll scare them, but it will also delight them. And
they may even learn a thing or two about respecting the
rules.

- Karl Puschmann, New Zealand Herald Entertainment Writer
5 January, 2016

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