It’s that time again when television networks air festive favorites, and “A Christmas Story” is perpetually playing. But what about non-traditional holiday films that break conventional seasonal molds? This season, I’ll examine what I argue is a holiday classic: “Gremlins,” written by Chris Columbus (“Home Alone”), produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Joe Dante.
“Gremlins” is somewhat controversial in its holiday status, but its Christmas movie label has become more accepted fairly recently. It premiered in the summer of 1984 on the same weekend as “Ghostbusters” and was successful, but had it been released over the holidays, I think its legacy would be different, with original audiences making winter, not summertime, associations.
When looking solely at its horror movie plot, it’s understandable how, at first, “Gremlins” doesn’t scream “Christmas movie.” Despite the contrasts, horror and Christmas aren’t strangers. There’s the famous Germanic legend of Krampus, St. Nicholas’ traveling demonic companion, who, instead of rewarding good children, punishes the naughty, taking them to hell. Jolly, right? Fundamentally, the cautionary Krampus tale inspires good behavior in children using punishment, not reward, as motivation. Consider Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol.” Ebenezer Scrooge is so wayward that ghostly visitors must frighten him into kindness. One of its greatest images is Scrooge kneeling before his own grave in the presence of the reaper-like Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. This macabre graveyard scene is immediately understood as a Christmas visual despite lacking traditional holiday iconography. Why? It represents Scrooge’s metanoia and rebirth from damnation to light. And isn’t that the whole Christian message of Christmas? That salvation is attainable because of Christ’s incarnation?
While “Gremlins” doesn’t have theological undertones like “A Christmas Carol” or Krampus’ good behavior incentivization, its horror scenes reinforce some Christmas themes. The film shows the battle between light and dark: the cute Mogwai Gizmo versus the evil gremlins. As with most holiday films, goodness wins. What’s Christmas all about? Light triumphing over darkness and death.
Christmas isn’t purely cosmetic in “Gremlins”; it’s substantive. Plot wise, it provides reasons for Billy (Zach Galligan) to receive the Mogwai – a holiday gift from his father – as well as why families are home and kids off from school during the gremlins’ attacks. Dante also utilizes Christmas to make social commentary about consumerism.
Aesthetically, the film is very festive. The opening credits alone set the holiday tone: Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” plays over a snowy, picturesque town square decked out for the holidays – if the set looks familiar, it’s on Universal’s backlot and was Hill Valley in “Back to the Future.” Across the picture, Christmas decorations adorn the set and are cleverly utilized in the gremlins’ antics.
Christmas music plays throughout the film. In the infamous microwave scene, Johnny Mathis’ “Do You Hear What I Hear?” plays during the gremlins’ destructive acts. Additionally, composer Jerry Goldsmith (“Rudy”) incorporates several Christmas hymns into the score, such as a melancholic “Silent Night” accompanying Billy and Kate (Phoebe Cates) surveying gremlin attack damage.
“Gremlins” is a black comedy, and Dante intended for its horror scenes to comedically juxtapose the warm aesthetic of holiday music and colorful lights. Not all holiday films are upbeat for their entire duration. In “Gremlins,” the characters acknowledge this while watching “It’s a Wonderful Life,” commenting: “It’s a sad movie.” Originally, Dante envisioned “Gremlins” as purely horror with minimal humor, but was urged to significantly lighten the tone.
Notably, the film breaks the sacred rule of holiday films by revealing the truth about Santa Claus. Kate monologues about why she doesn’t celebrate Christmas, explaining how, one year, her father, attempting to surprise her by dressing as Santa and coming down the chimney, broke his neck and got stuck: “That’s how I found out there is no Santa Claus.” This bleak monologue is tonally dissonant to the rest of the film and received pushback, but Dante was adamant about its inclusion as a remnant of an original, darker script. Like Dickens’ “The Haunted Man,” it’s a reminder that many suffer and struggle during the holidays. Due to the monologue’s reputation, Dante self-parodied it in “Gremlins II” with a more comedic angle when Kate begins: “Don’t mention Lincoln! Something terrible happened to me once on Lincoln’s birthday.”
“Gremlins,” like many of Dickens’ holiday works, critiques Christmas consumerism and greed. The deplorable Mrs. Deagle (Polly Holliday) – Wicked Witch of the West meets Scrooge – is miserly, cruel to the vulnerable and hates Christmas. Unlike Scrooge, she isn’t given a second chance, getting her moral comeuppance when Christmas caroling gremlins launch her out a window. This supports Dante’s efforts to subvert Christmas tropes; Deagle’s “Scrooge repentance” is expected but doesn’t happen. When Gizmo first duplicates, Billy’s dad, upon seeing the many resultant Mogwai, comments that it could be a desirable pet. However, when the replicated Mogwai become gremlins due to Billy’s carelessness, things get deadly.
I hope “Gremlins” makes your holiday movie marathon. Just don’t feed your Mogwai Christmas cookies after midnight!