History YMMV / Gremlins

* AdaptationDisplacement: Of a sort; the term "Gremlins" has become largely associated with the big-eared, reptilian humanoids of these films in the popular culture despite the origins being OlderThanTheyThink and going back to UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. However, they continue the ChaoticEvil trouble-making misschief of the older versions of Gremlins seen in ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoons, so it might be more of an EvolvingTrope.

* AccidentalAesop:
** Think about the responsibility before you get a pet.
** Billy for all intents and purposes does ''try'' to be careful and follow the rules with Gizmo, but outside forces he didn't anticipate keep sabotaging it (eg. the Mogwai intentionally sabotaging his clock). You can do everything right on ''your'' level of experience and still not be responsible enough for something you are alien to.
* {{Adorkable}}: Billy is more than a little awkward when he first asks Kate out, which she clearly finds endearing. It's especially interesting to watch him go from puppy-dog excited to trying to act cool when she says yes.
* AngstWhatAngst: When Rand reunites with Billy and Kate at the tail end of the movie's climax, he doesn't react to the fact his son is clearly ''bleeding and heavily injured'' at all -- his role in the scene ''literally'' plays out as if Billy is physically fine. Whilst seeing a gremlin for the first time (while it's melting to death no less) ''is'' a pretty eye-catching thing, it's a bit of a stretch for it to override the [[PapaWolf paternal instincts]] of a decent middle-class father whose son is visibly injured for reasons he doesn't yet know, nevermind that Rand's lack of reaction persists ''after'' the gremlin's [[spoiler:(Stripe's)]] body has fallen out of sight into the fountain.
* {{Applicability}}: The film has been interpreted as a metaphor for everything from puberty to white suburbia's fear of minorities.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic
** Music/JerryGoldsmith [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eicf5TbIM1g strikes again]].
** The question is, which is better? The original [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBEYCbamxIQ Gremlin Rag]] or the more up-tempo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RexjdTvGiSU Gremlin Theme]] from the sequel?
** Music/PeterGabriel's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inWF_mVOF0c Out Out]], which plays in the bar scene from the first movie.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The whole "Santa Claus" speech comes out of nowhere, and isn't mentioned again afterward, leaving it completely without any resolution. It has absolutely no reason to be in the movie other than to be disturbing. The sequel had some fun with this when it turns out Christmas isn’t the only holiday Kate has traumatic memories about, but this time no one cares.
* CreepyAwesome: Stripe. He's the vile, nightmarish, sadistic leader of the Gremlin horde, but is so manically cunning and has such commanding personality he's a very enjoyable villain to watch.
* EvilIsCool: Stripe, probably the only gremlin in the film who's both totally evil and wickedly smart.
* GeniusBonus: According to The Other Wiki, the mogwai of Chinese folklore breed "during mating seasons triggered by the coming of rain." In other words, [[OlderThanYouThink their reproductive cycles being associated with water isn't an invention of the film]].
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: [[spoiler: During the ending, Mr. Wing notices that Billy, at the very least, may have potential to take care of Gizmo in the future. This is culminated in the second movie where Wing passes away and Billy is reunited with Gizmo again, this time for good.]]
* HilariousInHindsight: In their VillainsOutShopping moment, the gremlins are seen watching ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' in a movie theater. From 1987 to 1992, Warner Bros. (the film's distributor) would distribute Disney movies in the European Union.
* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Mrs. Deagle is one of the most obnoxious old {{Rich Bitch}}es ever put to the silver screen, while the eponymous creatures are gleefully LaughablyEvil. Hence she ends up an AssholeVictim with her death (caused by the Gremlins themselves) being treated purely as BlackComedy. It's worth noting she's the only explicit ''human fatality'' to survive into the produced film, after the majority of the Gremlins' kills from the original script[[note]]devouring all the patrons at a McDonald's, including ''[[EatsBabies infants in strollers]]'' and decapitating Billy's mother, amongst others[[/note]] were all axed.
* MandelaEffect: Stripe's name is often misremembered as "Spike".
* MemeticBadass: Billy's Mom, due to having the highest Gremlin kill-count in ''both movies''.
* MemeticMutation: Thanks to this film, the word "gremlins" was primarily associated with its characters.[[note]]It was first invented by World War II pilots, who would joke that they were responsible for any mechanical failures in the aircraft.[[/note]] And the official theme, to the point that many now remember it more than the film itself.
** On that note - "fed after midnight" has attained some popularity as a colorful descriptor of something quickly multiplying, often [[FollowTheLeader new series following a popular bandwagon]] (also a case of BeamMeUpScotty, as feeding after midnight transforms a mogwai into a gremlin, while ''water'' is what makes them multiply).
* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The Atari video game based on the film is rather badly done. Averted by the NES game by Sunsoft.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/JonathanBanks is Deputy Brent.
** Creator/ChrisColumbus wrote the script years before he'd direct ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone''.
* SpecialEffectsFailure: There's a few times where one can see the hand of the puppeteer. In particular, the rod in the arm of the plate-throwing gremlin in the kitchen attack is clearly visible during the over-the-shoulder shots and again when Stripe attacks Billy with the chainsaw at the end. The Gizmo puppet also proved to be a hassle to work with for the crew due to its size compared to the other puppets, with the scene featuring the Gremlins throwing darts at Gizmo in the final film being their way of expressing it.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: All video games of the franchise use an off key version of the main theme. Subverted with ''The New Batch'' for Amiga and Atari ST, which uses genuine arrangements of the film's soundtrack (plus the Gremlin Rag from the first film).
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The first movie bothers to properly introduce several residents of Kingston Falls, even giving them detailed personalities and backstories. Most of them disappear in the second act or end up quick victims of the Gremlims' rampage. It's especially glaring with Gerald (played by Creator/JudgeReinhold) who is set up as a jerk deserving of some comeuppance -- and is then never seen again after his second scene in the tavern (though he is terrorised in a deleted scene). The sequel seems to go out of its way to avoid the same mistake, even bringing back a handful of the original cast to be utilised more fully.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Billy and Stripe's final confrontation takes place inside a Montgomery Ward store. Montgomery Ward went out of business in 1999.
* ValuesResonance: This film features a family who buys a pet on impulse without considering the responsibility, which leads to disaster. Decades later, exotic pets such as otters, owls, foxes, and lorises have become popular on social media, leading people to impulse-buy these animals which often leads to them being rehomed when the owners discover these animals aren't as fun or easy to care for as the videos make them look.
* ViewerNameConfusion: For the record, the main gremlin's name is "Stripe," not "Spike", and the lead gremlin in the sequel is officially named Mohawk (though WordOfGod suggests that they are indeed the same character, reincarnated).
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The mogwai and gremlin puppets have aged quite well.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: This movie, along with ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' led to the creation of both the PG-13 rating in the USA and the 12 rating in the UK. The trailers presented this picture as much more lighthearted than it was. Reviewing it for ''Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine'', Creator/HarlanEllison described it in terms more suited to NightmareFuel. He deplored its many instances of wanton cruelty played for laughs, and said he "heard little children scream and cry" in the theater. The manager later told him he'd never had so many patrons walking out and demanding their money back.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical:
** Of course, this was not intentional, but some people still see this film as a satire on the YellowPeril and Americans' stereotypes about Asia, especially [[MadeInCountryX cheap Japanese imports]]. This is especially invoked when, at the beginning of the film, one of the veterans tells the main character a popular legend about GripingAboutGremlins.
** Some cultural commentators have accused the gremlins of being racist caricatures of African-Americans, usually singling out a quick sequence where one gremlin breakdances as evidence (presumably these critics are unfamiliar with ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'', which is the clear subject of parody in that scene-- there's even another Michael Sembello song playing in the background). Patricia Turner's ''Ceramic Uncles & Celluloid Mammies'' additionally singled out a scene where a group of Gremlins voraciously eat fried chicken, the fact that the Gremlins wear clothes that were popular among Black people at the time, and the fact that the only Black character in the film is also [[BlackDudeDiesFirst the first victim]].
* TheWoobie: Gizmo in both films, being abused by his spawned offspring, taken from Billy and Mr. Wing dying in the second film. And then the mad scientist cages Gizmo to start the whole mess all over again.
** IronWoobie: Despite all this, Gizmo remains a cute, cuddly, friendly little critter, with genuine affection for most of the people he meets, but especially Billy and Kate. And in Gremlins 2, after being pushed too far, he TakesALevelInBadass.

----

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The whole "Santa Claus" speech comes out of nowhere, and isn't mentioned again afterward, leaving it completely without any resolution. It has absolutely no reason to be in the movie other than to be disturbing. The sequel had some fun with this when it turns out Christmas isn’t the only holiday she has traumatic memories about, but this time no one cares.

* HilariousInHindsight: In their VillainsOutShopping moment, the gremlins are seen watching ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' (a Creator/{{Disney}} movie) in a movie theater. From 1987 to 1992, Warner Bros. (the film's distributor) would distribute Disney movies in the European Union.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: [[spoiler: During the ending, Mr Wing notices that Billy at the very least may have potential to take care of Gizmo in the future. This is culiminated in the second movie, where Wing passes away, and Billy is reuinites with Gizmo again, this time for good.]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Of course, this was not intentional, but some people still see this film as a satire on the YellowPeril and Americans' stereotypes about Asia, especially [[MadeInCountryX cheap Japanese imports]]. This is especially invoked when, at the beginning of the film, one of the veterans tells the main character a popular legend about GripingAboutGremlins.
** Some cultural commentators have accused the gremlins of being racist caricatures of African-Americans, usually singling out a quick sequence where one gremlin breakdances as evidence (presumably these critics are unfamiliar with ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'', which is the clear subject of parody in that scene-- there's even another Michael Sembello song playing in the background).

* UnfortunateImplications: Some cultural commentators have accused the gremlins of being racist caricatures of African-Americans, usually singling out a quick sequence where one gremlin breakdances as evidence (presumably these critics are unfamiliar with ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'', which is the clear subject of parody in that scene-- there's even another Michael Sembello song playing in the background).

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The first movie bothers to properly introduce several residents of Kingston Falls, even giving them detailed personalities and backstories. Most of them disappear in the second act or end up quick victims of the Gremlims' rampage. It's especially glaring with Gerald (played by Creator/JudgeReinhold) who is set up as a jerk deserving of some comeuppance -- and is then never seen again after his second scene in the tavern (though he is terrorised in a deleted scene). The sequel seems to go out of it's way to avoid the same mistake, even bringing back a handful of the original cast to be utilised more fully.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical:
** Of course, this was not intentional, but some people still see this film as a satire on the YellowPeril and Americans' stereotypes about Asia, especially [[MadeInCountryX cheap Japanese imports]]. This is especially invoked when, at the beginning of the film, one of the veterans tells the main character a popular legend about GripingAboutGremlins.
** Some cultural commentators have accused the gremlins of being racist caricatures of African-Americans, usually singling out a quick sequence where one gremlin breakdances as evidence (presumably these critics are unfamiliar with ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'', which is the clear subject of parody in that scene-- there's even another Michael Sembello song playing in the background).

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Mrs. Deagle is one of the most obnoxious old {{Rich Bitch}}es ever put to the silver screen, while the eponymous creatures are gleefully LaughablyEvil. Hence she ends up an AssholeVictim with her death (caused by the Gremlins themselves) being treated purely as BlackComedy.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: Creator/WarnerBros wanted to cut scenes of the Gremlins in order to focus more on the human characters. Thankfully, the film was produced by Creator/StevenSpielberg, who said, "Why don't you have us cut them out of the movie entirely and call it ''People?''" The studio backed off.

** Some cultural commentators have accused the gremlins of being racist caricatures of African-Americans, usually singling out a quick sequence where one gremlin breakdances as evidence (presumably these critics are unfamiliar with ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'', which is the clear object of parody in that scene).