Holiday Horrors - GREMLINS (1984)

Hope everyone's having a grand final slide into Santaland! Here's a childhood fave that 25 years later still has me howling with fear and joy...


GREMLINS (1984)


Joe Dante’s instant classic features the cute fuzzy Mogwai, who must be kept away from water, out of the sunlight and never, ever fed after midnight.


When these rules are inevitably broken, they multiply and become the malevolent reptilian “Gremlins” who set about bringing Zach Galligan’s small town to its knees, cackling all the while.



Terrific creature design (Chris Walas, who would win an Oscar for David Cronenberg’s THE FLY in two years) combined with Chris Columbus’ razor sharp black comic script make this one for the ages.


Phoebe Cates’ chimney monologue haunts us still.