Genre:
Comedy/
Horror/
Fantasy
Release date: 1990
Runtime: 106 minutes, color
Formats:
VHS,
DVD
Director:
Joe Dante
The sequel to
Gremlins, released in 1984. Gremlins 2 takes a departure from the horror of Gremlins, presenting the Gremlins as being more comical.
The movie begins with
Mr. Wing, the original owner of
Gizmo (voice of
Howie Mandel) trying to keep possession of his store.
Real estate tycoon Daniel Clamp (
John Glover) needs Mr Wing's property in order to begin construction of his new
skyscraper in
New York City. Unfortunately, Mr. Wing dies, and Mr. Clamp was able to obtain Wing's property and get the Clamp Tower built.
Once the skyscraper was built, many tenants began to move in. One of them was a geneticist by the name of Dr. Catheter (
Christopher Lee). Dr. Catheter finds Gizmo and decides to use him for research. Fate should have it that Gizmo's original owner, Billy Peltzer (
Zach Galligan), and his girlfriend, Kate Beringer (
Phoebe Cates), are both working at Clamp Tower.
The Gremlins are produced when a janitor accidentally sprays Gizmo with water. Some of these new Gremlins find their way into Dr Catheter's lab and
imbibe some of the genetic formulas. The most notable of these gremlins are Brain (voice of
Tony Randall), Mohawk (voice of
Frank Welker), and a hybrid between a Gremlin and a
spider.
The Gremlins become very comical at this point, focusing the movie's
satire on itself, and on the previous film.. A couple Gremlins get angered when a movie critic (
Leonard Maltin, as himself) on the
cable network that broadcasts from the Clamp Tower gives the original
Gremlins a low rating. A female gremlin in the batch discovers she has a crush on Mr. Clamp. Brain takes most of the spotlight, showing off his genetically acquired knowledge.
Even with the comedy, the director still manages to sustain the
horror that the Gremlins are. In my opinion, the most fearsome Gremlin is the Spider Gremlin, which almost kills off someone (I forget who), but Gizmo, all dressed up in his
Rambo combat gear, launches a lit
match to save the day.
This film is way better than the first, because the director went all out to bring an entertaining masterpiece to the
silver screen. Definitely one to enjoy when
Comedy Central announces that they will be broadcasting it.