How could it not be Gremlins, after all? It's the greatest Christmas film ever made, bar none, not to mention a totally ridiculous horror film to boot. The mainstream debut of longtime B-movie director Joe Dante, with Chris Columbus and Steven Spielberg throwing their weight behind it, some try and argue that the story of a young boy being given the responsibility of a supernatural pet whose offspring run riot through a small, snow-covered town isn't particularly Christmassy. Those people are fools. For one thing, there's all the circumstantial evidence. Gremlins is set at Christmas. Billy's dad buys him Gizmo as a Christmas present, he just happens to open it early. Kate even has that horrific story about how her own dad died when he tried to climb down the chimney dressed as Santa Claus on Christmas Day, only to get stuck and expire in the several days it took for anyone to find him. Not child-appropriate, maybe, but definitely a Christmas film. And really, has there been a more accurate depiction of the decadence, bad behaviour and slavish following of capitalism that we all indulge in over the holiday period than in the antics of the gremlins as they tear that backwater city apart? If nothing else, Billy's mum using household items to kill a bunch of the creatures should be more than enough to warm the cockles of your heart. She's like the housewife Ellen Ripley. And to all a good night!
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
