GREMLIN (2017)

Studio:       Uncork’d Entertainment
Director:    Ryan Bellgardt
Writer:       Ryan Bellgardt
Producer:  Ryan Bellgardt, Josh McKamie, Andy Swanson, Chris Hoyt
Stars:     Adam Hampton, Kristy K. Boone, Catcher Stair, Michael Page, Katie Burgess, Mike Waugh, Caleb Milby, Kyle Pennington, Connie Franklin, Rachael Messer, Vicki Wilcox

Review Score:

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Summary:

A mystical box containing a murderous monster forces its owner to pass a curse on to loved ones or risk horrible death.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Armed with a shotgun, James Roberts frantically waits for a mystical box to open. When it does, a small creature emerges and kills James’ wheelchair-bound wife Lisa.

James brings the box to his elderly mother Mary and presents it to her as a gift. James instructs Mary to not keep the box, but to give it to someone she loves before the timer on its top runs out. Having assumed his mother was alone, James is alarmed to find out his niece Julie is now living in Mary’s home with Julie’s architect husband Adam Thatcher, their teenage daughter Anna, and their young son Charlie. James leaves abruptly.

Despite her confusion, Mary gives the box to Adam as a gift according to James’ instructions. That night, Charlie witnesses a gremlin emerging from the box to kill Mary in her bed.

Detective Morris Patterson interviews the family about Mary’s suspicious death the next morning. Everyone dismisses Charlie’s claim that a monster from the box killed her.

Adam’s mistress Natalie Rose comes to the house under the pretense of dropping off paperwork. Adam dismisses her quickly, reminding Natalie that his wife cannot know about their affair.

After staying out all night, Anna returns home with her boyfriend Tyler Cook to tell her parents she is pregnant. However, Adam interrupts with the news that Anna’s great-grandmother died. Charlie once again mentions the box. Tyler asks if he can have the box and Adam says yes. The gremlin suddenly emerges. Everyone scatters.

Once everyone regroups, the gremlin kills Tyler by puncturing him through the back of his throat. The gremlin then returns to its box. Adam convinces the others that they cannot call police because no one will believe what happened. Instead, Adam says he will take the box back to where it came from.

Detective Patterson continues investigating Mary Roberts’ death. Detective John Harris mentions a previous case where Adam and Julie Thatcher’s 10-year-old son Henry was found murdered.

When Adam comes to his door, James greets Adam with a shotgun, saying only that Adam must give the box away. Adam responds that the box is already killing people, including James’ mother, but James refuses to explain anything more about the box.

On his way home, Adam throws the box into a lake. He then calls Natalie with a promise that he will end things with his wife soon. Meanwhile, Julie discovers a love note from Natalie. Julie forces Adam to sleep on the couch when he returns home.

The next morning, Adam finds the box back in the house. All of his attempts to destroy it are unsuccessful. Because the curse must be passed to someone he loves, Adam suggests giving it to Natalie. Julie slaps him and proclaims they are not murderers.

Detective Patterson interviews James about his mother’s death as well as the box.

At night, the gremlin crawls into Anna’s bed and kills her unborn baby by puncturing Anna’s stomach. Adam and Julie chase the gremlin throughout the house, but arrive too late to stop it from finding Anna again and killing her. The gremlin returns to its box once more. To protect their son Charlie, Julie finally agrees to allow Adam to give the box to Natalie.

Detective Harris tells Detective Patterson that Anna Thatcher’s boyfriend Tyler Cook was reported missing. Patterson goes to the house looking for Anna, but Julie deflects his questions.

After entertaining second thoughts, Adam ultimately goes through with giving Natalie the box. The gremlin emerges and cuts Natalie’s throat. Adam calls Julie to tell her that Natalie was killed, but the curse didn’t stop. Adam tells Julie to go to a motel with Charlie while he returns to the house to wait with a gun for the gremlin to come out once more.

The gremlin finally emerges from the box the next morning. Unable to kill it, Adam drives away from the house. The gremlin chases after Adam’s car, causing him to crash. Adam then chases the fleeing gremlin on foot.

Adam follows the gremlin to the motel where it rips out of Julie’s stomach and kills her. Adam returns home with Charlie.

On Detective Harris’ recommendation, Detective Patterson visits psychic Luciana Farrow to ask her about the box. Luciana explains that according to legend, the box is supposedly a weapon passed down through generations. The box contains a fallen god held against its will and bound to evil that can eradicate bloodlines. The box cannot be lost or destroyed. If cursed, the only options are to wait for the timer to expire or to pass the curse to a loved one to reset the countdown. No one knows for certain what happens when the timer reaches zero, although whoever possesses it will be driven mad.

The cops are called to the crime scene at the motel. They also discover that Natalie Rose is missing, prompting a manhunt for Adam Thatcher.

While Charlie hides, Adam waits for the gremlin to emerge after the box reappears at the house. When the gremlin comes out, Adam shoots it and it disintegrates. However, another gremlin emerges from the box to attack Adam and Charlie.

James arrives at the house unexpectedly and destroys the second gremlin with his shotgun. Adam recovers. A third gremlin emerges that kills James. Police arrive to separate Charlie from his father and take Adam into custody.

The timer on the box expires. Another gremlin emerges, crawls outside, and grows to a size as big as the house. The enormous monster then combats police on the front lawn.

Charlie runs back inside the house. Adam wrestles free to go after the boy and Detective Patterson soon follows. Adam points Patterson to the box. When Patterson picks it up, the timer resets. The creature outside returns to its smaller form, comes inside, and crawls back into the box. With the curse seemingly passed to him, Patterson looks at Adam in astonishment while still holding the box.

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Review:

If it added a dollop of unnecessary nudity, virtually required for maximum distribution appeal back in the day, and had a 1990s production date, “Gremlin” could find a home on a Blockbuster Video shelf alongside Full Moon’s slate of likeminded fare.  That is to say “Gremlin” is a mini-monster B-movie not soon to knock anyone out of his/her Nikes.  Yet it possesses a modicum of DTV charm capable of stroking a sweet spot for that time when a passable premise and a questionable creature were enough to warrant forking over three dollars for a weekend rental.

James has a small box with a big problem.  Inside the box is a dangerous gremlin capable of slashing the throats or puncturing the stomachs of anyone connected to its owner.  The creature’s curse can’t be broken, but it can be passed on by gifting the box to someone you love.

James reasons that his elderly mother Mary is close to death anyway, so he presents the box to her with an implicit instruction to give it away as soon as she can.  Little does James know that his niece Julie just moved into Mary’s house with her cheating husband Adam, rebellious teen daughter Anna, and young son Charlie.  James assumed he was only risking one life.  Turns out he is endangering at least four more.

The haunted hot potato with mystical properties makes its way around the Thatcher household and bodies begin dropping.  Police start sniffing around, but Adam knows better than to tell them the truth.  What Adam doesn’t know is what to do about the box.  Bash it, throw it, lose it in a lake, the box somehow makes its way back to his hands.  If he doesn’t decide to follow the directions about paying the evil forward, Adam may lose all of his loved ones just the same.

With a somewhat schlocky setup and several low-grade production values, more eyes will roll with incredulity at “Gremlin” than will be widened by pleasant surprise.  But whether it is worth a recommendation or not, the truth of the matter is “Gremlin” is one of the better-produced indies on the micro-horror market.

Camerawork is straightforward, though it isn’t a lazy point, shoot, and move on style.  The film uses professional equipment, not simply reflected sun or whatever practical bulbs happened to be there to light the set.  Speaking of the set, the spacious home where most of the movie takes place looks like a rented location, as opposed to an available house belonging to someone on the crew.

If that sounds like I’m setting a low bar to give “Gremlin” credit for merely fulfilling the basics, it’s not me.  The low bar is set by poorer peers who are content to make a movie with only the second half of each sentence above.

“Gremlin” earns adequate grades in most categories until it confuses Act Two for Act One, putting a bulk of exposition into a midsection that gets too talky for its own good.  While seemingly stalling for time, the movie takes the momentum of a fairly fast-paced start and slows it to sloth speed so someone can have a heart-to-heart confessional with a dead body, when it is way too late for two-way character development.

The script also starts spinning in circles by repeating previous beats.  When Adam runs out of ideas for how to combat the creature, he returns to the top of his list only for another attempt to not work out the second time either.  Then there are exchanges such as this:

1. Character A suggests giving the box to Character B.
2. Character C says absolutely not.
3. C later has a change of heart and agrees that A should give the box to B.
4. This time, A has second thoughts and elects to not give the box to B.
5. A eventually flips positions once more and decides to give the box to B only to briefly hesitate yet again.

More purpose to the plot would lift “Gremlin” out of these uninteresting wheel spins.  A firmer handle on its own fiction, which isn’t fully figured out by the film’s end, is another feather missing from the movie’s cap.  That empty band is the difference between “Gremlin” being acceptable based on respectable technical merit and earning a Charles Band achievement trophy for home video creature feature entertainment, which it narrowly misses.

With better acting, particularly from the people playing the two parents, and a slyer streak to its sense of humor, which only exists in two or three one-off jokes, “Gremlin” could play in a Saturday night slot on Syfy.  The titular CGI creature can’t compete with a “Jurassic World” raptor of course, but he’d fare fine against whatever shark/beast hybrid Jaleel White and Deborah Gibson have on their next “so bad it’s good” fight card.

That sentiment sums up “Gremlin” in a nutshell.  It may not rate against mid-range movies or even “Sharknado” (review here).  But I’d take it over “Tsunambee,” “Leprechaun: Origins” (review here), or whatever subpar similar movie might be a direct competitor in its weight class.

Review Score:  50

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