Holiday Favorites 2012: Don't Feed Aaron Malzahn After Midnight

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Gremlins

By Aaron Malzahn

Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

They don't make movies like Gremlins anymore. It is one of those rare holiday films that manages to successfully combine the warm, fuzzy holiday feeling of family togetherness with the strange, bizarre and gruesome humor of cheesy horror flicks. It does this so well in fact that most people, just like Die Hard, forget that Gremlins is a Christmas film. But it is, and the first time I ever saw this loveable gem of a movie was wrapped up next to a roaring fire when I was a kid and sipping a big glass of egg nog witnessing a gremlin explode in the microwave. This movie, ladies and gentlemen, is why we have the PG-13 rating.

Produced by Steven Spielberg and his company Amblin entertainment back in 1984 hot off the heels of his blockbuster film ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, Gremlins opened on the same day as Ghostbusters, and came in second in the box-office draws. Originally written as a spec script by Chris Columbus, Spielberg bought it when it came across his desk and hired Joe Dante (coming off of a hiatus after The Howling) to direct. It was a critical and commercial hit during its lifetime in the theatre and went on to spawn a sequel and a massive marketing campaign.

I love this movie for a multitude of reasons. Most of the jokes land and hold up after 30 years, the acting from leads Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates contains some true chemistry to latch onto, but the most important reason is simple -- the gremlins themselves. I am a huge animation and special effects nerd and this movie is one of the strongest reasons why I turned out that way. The gremlins, designed by Chris Walas, still populate my nightmares. Mix in a score by Jerry Goldsmith and the loveable voice of Howie Mandel, and you have one of my favorite holiday films.

Where to watch: Gremlins is available on Blu-ray/DVD and you can try to get a screening at your local theater through Tugg.com.

Aaron Malzahn is the Office Manager at Austin Film Society.