Parents need to know that Gremlins has many scary scenes, including a mom chopping up a Gremlin with a kitchen knife, a Gremlin-in-blender, and indelible Gremlin-in-microwave scenes.
At least 10. The kitchen scene alone, where Billy's fearless mom slaughters a stream of evil gremlins, makes me think parents should wait until their kids are older and able to handle the scares that come with a well-made creature story. Gremlins isn't Jaws.
Along with some mild sexual innuendo and a handful of profanities, the film contains some gory and violent depictions that would likely push it solidly into higher category, were it to be re-rated today.
Other than a couple of suspenseful scenes, the movie isn't too scary as it's mostly mischevious creatures being mischevious. At first the mogwai are cute, but once they "morph" into the more dangerous gremlins, they seem creepy and scary. A lot of the violence may be scary, but all of it is meant to be so over the top.
Originally marketed as another kids' adventure movie from Producer Steven Spielberg, Gremlins is now seen as one of the darkest, most violent children's movies ever made.
Is ‘Gremlins’ Right For Your 10-Year-Old? - Mom Review | Mom’s Movie Minute
Is Gremlins PG or PG-13?
History changed one month in 1984 when two PG-rated classics were deemed too scary for kids. In 1984, the movie industry would be changed forever in a way most of us don't think about anymore.
Gremlins was theatrically released on June 8, 1984 by Warner Bros. to critical and commercial success. However, it was heavily criticized for some of its more violent sequences.
After the flash from a camera frightens the creature, Rand remembers to tell his son the three rules: The creature did not like bright light and would be killed by sunlight. They must never give the creature any water, either to drink or a bath. And they must never feed it after midnight.
He followed orders so well that he never developed the capability for independent thought, so when he died, his spirit couldn't leave his body because it didn't know how to make the choice to do so. This manifested in the official turning into a zombie-like creature.
While not as gory as other horror movies, some of the gremlin deaths -- for instance, a gremlin getting killed via a paper shredder -- might be a bit much for younger viewers.
Its violence leans more towards slapstick, so the film received a PG-13 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). There are also a number of parodies of other films and stories, including the Rambo films, The Wizard of Oz, Marathon Man and The Phantom of the Opera.
Violence & Gore (21) Tons of Gremlins are killed and maimed in violent and gruesome ways. The blood is green, but it still might be too much for the squeamish or easily nauseous.
“Beetlejuice” revels in being unabashedly juvenile in almost every way, its humor mined from the same sophomore vein that made “The Book of Mormon” a monster hit. The movie carried a gentle PG rating; the f-bombs and sex jokes on stage would earn this a hard PG-13.
Appropriate Age At least 10. The kitchen scene alone, where Billy's fearless mom slaughters a stream of evil gremlins, makes me think parents should wait until their kids are older and able to handle the scares that come with a well-made creature story. Gremlins isn't Jaws.
Dante: Gizmo was a little more complex. Originally he was meant to be in the movie for the first couple of reels, before turning into Stripe, the bad Gremlin.
This is a cute Halloween flick without too much gore. The issue is that the PG rating is too low for what the movie contains. It views more like a PG-13. While the Halloween violence is minimal, there are numerous sexual innuendos in this movie that are shocking for a movie that seems to be aimed for kids.
This is the form we see Gizmo as throughout the film. Mogwai are the cute, cuddly, fuzzy forms. It is what happens if you feed them after midnight where they have earned their name gremlins! Feeding the Mogwai causes them to metamorphosize, similar to a caterpillar.
According to author George Gipe, an alien race spawned the creatures to be kind and gentle, but their instability led to their violent behavior. Aside from spawning itself, the Gremlins are born fully grown, or fully grow up super fast.
Some took issue with the PG-rated film's violence, especially when Gizmo was marketed as a cute and friendly creature who would appeal to children. However, Chris Columbus' original script for Gremlins would have made it a gory R-rated movie, before executive producer Steven Spielberg intervened.
After Gizmo accidentally gets wet, he spawns evil monsters known as gremlins. Yoda was first introduced in the “Star Wars” universe in the 1980 film “The Empire Strikes Back.” Grogu and Yoda belong to the same species, but they are technically not related.
Gremlins suffer from extreme photosensitivity as we've seen Gizmo spiraling to the ground when he is flashed with bright lights. This is bad enough but, as Randall Peltzer explained, sunlight will kill the little mogwai.
Restricted: R - Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.
1968's The Split is Hollywood's first R-rated film, a surprisingly little-known fact even among the biggest movie buffs. It's a neo-noir crime drama starring big names like Jim Brown, Diahann Carroll, Julie Harris, Donald Sutherland, and Gene Hackman. But what took so long for the R rating to come about?
