51 Reasons Why Gremlins Just Might Be The Greatest Film Of All Time...

By Simon Gallagher /

16. The Competition it Faced, and Beat: You are often defined by your adversaries, their strengths testament to your own fortitude, which always makes victory that little bit sweeter. Summer 1984 was already heavily packed with the releases of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and a little film called Ghostbusters, but Warner Bros- perha sensing that it had a winning hand- moved the release date of Gremlins from Christmas (hence the festive feel) to directly compete with Paramount and Columbia's tentpole releases. And God damn, didnt they do well! And not only did they make a better film, they actually cheekily referenced Indiana Jones within the film itself... 15. The Fan Art: I've already mentioned GremlinsOnline.com, but I think their fan art section deserves special praise. It's immense, and somewhat creepy to think that people spend hours endlessly drawing Mogwais. And here's my favourite piece for good measure... 14. The References to The Howling: As I've already said, Spielberg was a big fan, and why wouldnt he be? The Howling is an absolute classic of modern cinema, and was the catalyst for the early 80s filmic penchant for werewolves that gave birth to another of The Greatest Films Of All Time- the cruelly non-Oscar winning Teen Wolf. The love for Dante's earlier project is obvious in the numerous hidden references to it throughout Gremlins: from the smiley face image on the refrigerator door to the posters in the interior of the cinema and most obviously the appearance of Jim McKrell playing TV reporter Lew Landers, the same character he played for Dante in The Howling. 13. Joe Dante: Maybe not the first person you think of when the word legend is being thrown about but he made some proper cult classics years ago: The 'Burbs, The Howling, Piranha, Innerspace... and if that isnt enough he directed two episodes of Police Squad, which says it all. 12.

Ruby Deagle: Mrs Harris, what are you trying to tell me? Mrs. Joe Harris: I'm afraid none of us can pay for two weeks. Couldn't you just get Mr.Corben to just give us a little more time? Ruby Deagle: Mrs Harris, the bank and I have the same purpose in life - to make money. Not to support a lot of... deadbeats! Mrs. Joe Harris: Mrs Deagle! It's Christmas! Ruby Deagle: Well, now you know what to ask Santa for, don't you?

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