Director: Ryan Bellgardt
Writer: Ryan Bellgardt, Josh McKamie, Andy Swanson (Screenplay)
Starring: Adam Hampton, Kristy K Boone, Catcher Stair, Katie Burgess, Mike Waugh, Caleb Milby
Plot: A man receives a mysterious box containing a terrible secret, a creature that will kill everyone else in his family unless he passes it on to someone he loves to continue its never-ending circulation.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Twisted Creature Feature
Story: Gremlin starts as we meet the Thatcher family, Adam (Hampton), Julie (Boone), Anna (Burgess) Charlie (Stair) and grandmother Mary (Wilcox) who receive the mysterious box from their Uncle Jim (Waugh) as the family is grieving the loss of their child.
When a small creature emerges from the box it starts taking lives, one at a time as Adam must follow the warning of giving it to someone he loves to break the curse put upon his family, but the secrets will come out about what happened to their other child and the personal lives of the family. Can they escape from this curse before it is too late.
Thoughts on Gremlin
Characters/Performance – Adam is the husband and father of the household, he receives the box as a gift but he has been dealing with the loss of his son by pushing his family away. Julie has been dealing with the family problems at home making sure the kids are coping with the loss and understand standing her husband’s flaws. Charlie is the son of the family who hides from the reality of losing his brother. Anna is rebelling against her parents in the typical teenage mindset which shows how she is pushing away from the family. This is a normal feeling family with their own problems through the day and now against this creature.
Performance wise, I feel the whole cast give good performances through the film, with the mystery behind what is occurring covering up any flaws.
Story – The story does come off as original because we are left to see how the family must deal with a creature or Gremlin if you like that is coming out of a box killing loved ones at a random time during the day. We get new rules to the genre too with the idea you can’t kill the creature you can only pass it on which I do think adds a new level of terror to this story. I also like how the film doesn’t hold any punches when coming for the shocks but I would have liked to have seen more on the family looking at spiritual cures for the problem.
Horror – The horror comes from the idea that a box will keep a Gremlin in that will kill your loved ones if you don’t pass it one, leaving our characters to battle with the idea of what they should do next.
Settings – We have the home settings for most of the film because this is needed to show us just how close to home the horror will be for the family involved.
Special Effects – We have a lot of CGI going on here and sure it isn’t the greatest but it does work with everything going on within the film. It is mostly all used for creating the creature which is menacing and terrifying through the film.
Final Thoughts – If you want a new and original horror movie this is one for you to watch, it has morale questions as well as having the guts not to pull any punches.
Overall: Great addition to the horror world in 2017.
Rating
