My Review of Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

 

Written by Charles S. Haas

Directed by Joe Dante

Kate (re Gizmo): "What happened to him?"

Billy: "I dunno. I guess they pushed him too far."

Looking at my blog, I'm surprised that I reviewed Gremlins (1984) nearly a decade ago. I could've sworn it wasn't as long ago but here we are. Then there's this sequel. I know, I know but a negative isn't what to expect here.

I can't really give a negative because I actually like this sequel. Probably a lot more than most people do and I am at peace with that. I just think it's rather neat. Does it match the brilliance of the first movie? Of course not, but I have fun with it.

Taking place some years after the first movie, Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) and his fiancée, Kate Beringer, (Phoebe Cates) have now relocated to New York and working in the same building. Billy gets to design buildings while Kate's a tour guide. Billy's also got the unwanted advance of co-worker, Marla Bloodstone (Haviland Morris), which sparked a rivalry with Kate.

Of course this ain't much compared to the return of Gizmo (Howie Mandel). He was brought to Clamp Centre to be experimented on by scientists. It did mean reuniting with Billy and Kate but yet again, it also meant the creation of more evil Mogwai, in particular characters like the Intelligent Gremlin (Tony Randall), Mohawk (Frank Weller) and the rather amorous, Greta. The latter in particular had a thing for security chief, Frank Forster (Robert Picardo).

There's a fun supporting role for John Glover as Daniel Clamp along with the return of Billy's neighbours, Murray (Dick Miller) and Sheila Futterman (Jackie Joseph), an amusing team up with Kate and Marla and unlike the first movie, at least Gizmo got to stay with Billy this time. That in itself certainly cemented a spot in my heart for this sequel.

- I loved Christopher Lee popping up as an evil scientist along with the Looney Tunes bits. There's a good few cameos to keep an eye out.

- Joe Dante took some convincing to do this sequel. He really didn't want to do one.

- Standout music: Fats Domino I'm Ready and Jeff Beck's Sling Shot.

- Chronology: A few years since the first movie and set in New York.

There's a lot of fun to be had with Gremlins 2: The New Batch. It's a mad sequel, delightfully satirical and didn't repeat the first movie too much. I cannot bring myself to dislike this, even a tad. It's too much fun.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

Horror Hunks - Final Guys, Bad Guys And So On

It's Halloween 🎃 and the end of the month. I've indulged in plenty of horror movies this month. For my final blog, I thought I'd do something a little different. Here's a rundown of some of my favourite guys in the genre. Enjoy.

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) - Psycho (1960-1990)

He might be an unstable mama's boy but who can resist the unhinged motel owner? Or at the very least the gorgeous Anthony Perkins.

Dewey Riley (David Arquette) - Scream series (1996-2022)

Every franchise needs it's sensible and collected player and for five movies in the franchise, we had everyday hero Dewey Riley. Still not happy about his death.

Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman/John Shepherd/Thom Mathews) - Friday The 13th series (1984-1986)

Tommy Jarvis was the closest to a proper foil that Jason Voorhees had in this franchise and any future revival should absolutely cast a fourth actor in the role. Best character in that franchise outside of Jason and his mommy.

Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton) - A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

The guy can scream louder than anyone should, even in in distress but Jesse Walsh is one of the iconic Final Boys. In a movie that's pretty explicitly gay coded throughout.

Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) - Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) 

Dodgy attempts of an English accent to one side, there's something very delectable about Keanu Reeves in arguably the most thankless role in the bestest live action adaptation of this classic tale. He's a dreamboat here.

Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) - Halloween Ends (2022)

I don't care what other fans of the franchise say. Not only did I genuinely last year's conclusion to the Blumhouse trilogy but Corey Cunningham was one of the best new characters introduced to the franchise.

Andrew (Ben Aldridge) - Knock At The Cabin (2023)

The faithless human rights lawyer turned sort of action man and unwitting husband killer. The guy went through a fricking lot in one movie. Hot guy though.

Eddie (Dylan Fergus) - Hellbent (2004)

I know this might be a niche, given that's it's a movie only a small audience has heard but I had to include a character from it. The good boy desk cop who copped off with a hunky bad boy while surviving a hunky killer felt like the right choice.

Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) - Fright Night (1985)

It wouldn't be a Horror Hunks list without at least one vampire in the mix. My choice would be the bad boy next door neighbor who had too much fun in tormenting Charley Brewster and seducing his girlfriend. 

Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait) - The Covenant (2006)

Oftentimes I refer to this movie as the boy version of The Craft as it's largely the same plot/similar enough. Now I love Sebastian Stan's sexy bad boy in it but Steven Strait's equally sexy good boy is also a delight too. 

Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) - Gremlins series (1984-1990, 2023)

Yes, this might be more light-hearted family friendly horror compared to some of the others on here, but it still counts. I always liked Billy Peltzer as a character and found him rather sexy moreso in the underrated sequel to this franchise.

Philip Morgan (Farley Granger) - Rope (1948)

There's many a fascinating performance and character in this Alfred Hitchcock classic. None more than Farley Granger's eternally twitchy posh boy killer, Philip Morgan. Oh and he can tinkle the old ivories pretty well too.

John Constantine (Matt Ryan) - Constantine/Legends Of Tomorrow/DCAU (2014-2022)

Saving the best for last. There was no way I was going to do this type of blog and not include the best horror male. Of course I had to specifically reference Matt Ryan's sublime version of John Constantine. The man set the gold standard and is the ultimate horror hunk for me.

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Agree/disagree, let me know, lol. Oh and Happy Halloween 🎃

My Review of Gremlins (1984)

Written by Chris Columbus
Directed by Joe Dante

Kate: "What are they, Billy?"
Billy: "They're gremlins, Kate, just like Mr. Futterman said."

And here is one of the best Christmas movies that I should've reviewed for this blog ages ago. It's only in the last few years that I've rewatched this movie as I got it and it's delightful sequel on DVD back then.

Coming out in the mid-1980s, on paper this wouldn't seem like the most festive of ideas for a Christmas movie but on screen, you can really see it. A young banker named Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) gets a new pet for Christmas, a mogwai named Gizmo and all he had to do was not feed it after midnight or get the poor thing wet.

Of course those are the very things that happen and soon Gizmo is sprouting out some siblings and unlike Gizmo, they're more on Santa's naughty list than nice as they terrorise the neighbourhood in epic style as they transform into something more ghastly and terrifying.

I really love this movie. Gizmo is a pretty cute little creature with a sense of naivety and Zach Galligan makes for an engaging and endearing protagonist as Billy Peltzer as does Phoebe Cates as love interest, Kate. The Gremlins themselves are delightfully mischievous and dangerous as villains (that moment where a stairlift becomes a death sentence is horrifying and hilarious in one go).

I do however like the slightly bittersweet twist of the movie's ending where Gizmo's original comes back to claim. It's a surprising little moment but it does work and with the knowledge of a sequel, we know that Billy and his new friend are reunited eventually.

- In Cantonese Chinese, mogwai means devil, demon or gremlin. The Mandarin pronunciation is mogui.  That I did not know. Appropriate for Gizmo's siblings though.
- Because there was no CGI when this movie was being made, all the Gremlins were animatronics.
- Tim Burton was originally considered to direct the movie.
- Both Judd Nelson and Emilio Estevez were considered for the role of Billy prior to Zach Galligan getting the part.

Just an all time classic Christmas movie. Gremlins is the perfect blend of naughty and nice and definitely something to give you some Christmas cheer for the festive period. Just remember not to feed any Mogwais you may receive as a present after midnight though.

Rating: 9 out of 10