I forgot about Gremlins, but that's absolutely one of my favorite movies. (and its sequel, which I watched way more often as a child)
Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:
Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.
You might be surprised;I'm glad that Gremlins being Octo's #2 immediately spoils what Octo's #1 is.
It Follows is a 2014 American supernatural horror film written and directed by David Robert Mitchell that follows Jaime "Jay" Height, a 19-year-old college student who is pursued by a supernatural entity after a sexual encounter.
Okay, so hear me out.
I'm listening.
This entity thing could be totally chumped if people were just less hung up about sex. Right? Like if people were all "eh whatever man, it's just sex," and then did a lot of sex with whoever, the entity would get so lost that no one would ever even see it. The real horror is sexual repression!
Congratulations! You solved the movie.
I did it!!!!
The real horror is sexual repression!
I thought the consensus was that the titular "it" was STDs and/or other unwanted consequences to unprotected sex?
Most of the affection for Gremlins is just spill-over from Gremlins 2
I thought the consensus was that the titular "it" was STDs and/or other unwanted consequences to unprotected sex?
Re: Gremlins rip-offs. I just rewatched the Critters films for the first time in probably 25 years and I can certainly recommend that if you also last watched them as a child decades ago. I wonder if Angela Bassett and Scott Grimes talked about how they were both in Critters on ER. I've seen almost every episode of the latter but stopped watching before her season, the final one. Fake fan. Critters had a little series on Shudder but it's gone now and I don't even know if it's illicitly online anywhere... I guess I'll wait for it to come back. I need to know all critters lore.
Here's a critters fact: the Shout Factory menu screens are so beautiful but the one for Critters 3 doesn't have Leo anywhere because why? Too reserved to be like, "oh, Leonardo DiCaprio's in this? Bet you thought we'd put him i here!" Well, yes, I did.
Also I thought these movies were like in some way for adults as a child and I was watching something kind advanced... Anyway, they are certainly not.
I'm sorry if I'm prematurely discussing Critters which probably made the list...
What? But I had Critters 2 at #18 on my list.Not a single vote was cast for any of the four Critters films, which is a shame!
"Although widely believed to have been made to cash in on the success of the similarly themed Gremlins, director Stephen Herek has refuted this in interviews, pointing out that the first Critters script was written by Domonic Muir long before Gremlins went into production, and subsequently underwent rewrites to reduce the similarities between the two films."Re: Gremlins rip-offs. I just rewatched the Critters films
I won't name any other such movies for fear of spoiling future list entries, but I have a great appreciation for both slow-burn horror and horror movies that do a lot by only showing a little.
I thought the consensus was that the titular "it" was STDs and/or other unwanted consequences to unprotected sex?
Y’know, I really should watch that movie at some point.
I always assumed it was The Ring, except sex
In other news.This is one of those movies with a crazy high concept premise that sounds like a later Jojo stand (in that its almost like a thought experiment) but actually explores a fear of human relationships. It also has some very effective and strange imagery and a monster whose intentions, beyond the broadest details, remain mysterious.
Well, I mean, they are mean. And they are just playing. See, they are like very young children with the empathy removed and no desire for guidance inborn into most kids. And even kids with those two things can be mean. Trust me, I look after kids. But its a weird sort of... innocent meanness? For fun or based out of a misplaced sense of "this belongs to me." And while I wouldn't go as far as to say the gremlins are "childlike", they retain that sense of fun of knocking over an anthill. And they certainly don't care if someone dies and might even think it (including other gremlins) is hilarious. You know, in trying to convey my general agreement to Octo's sentiment but saying "they are mean, though," it occurs to me that the Gremlins might be a metaphor for kids. You don't follow the rules, they turn on you. Both in the sense that kids need structure and rules but also... the kids I watch are incredibly "rules" focused. Not even about fairness but things need to be just so or its awful. First story, then song, then bed. Try to fuck with the rules and it is chaos. Also, stick them in front of a movie and you have peace for a little while.As Johnny noted, the reason Gremlins succeeds where so many imitators failed is that, while they’re incredibly destructive, Gremlins aren’t actually mean (except to Gizmo). They’re just playing.
they’re here for a good time, not a long time.
One other fun detail is that the film's setting is deliberately vague and confusing in terms of when it's supposed to take place: no one has a cell phone and the cars and televisions suggest the past, but one of the characters has this weird futuristic clamshell e-reader she's always pulling out. By making it impossible to pin down when the film is set it becomes sort of timeless, and it's one more element that keeps the viewer from getting too comfortable.
Watched Friday the 13th in 3D today. Great experience. Unfortunately I just had the shitty PSVR earbuds but what an incredible film. I feel like 3D films are under pressure to be restrained and "earn" their 3D shots but there's just something to be said for triggering blink reflexes for absolutely no reason every two minutes.
Also the final girl is alone with Jason for like 25 minutes and I wondered if it'd be a drag but it wasn't; she just kept railing on him. (the wood block!) Satisfying.