10 Best Gremlins Moments
8. Stripe’s Arrival
The birth of the Gremlin was conducted long before screenwriter Chris Columbus (known for Home Alone among many other films) put pen to paper, with the term being commonly used by RAF pilots to describe pesky mechanical faults. One of those RAF pilots, famed family novelist Roald Dahl, would write “The Gremlins” (1943), conceiving the popularised idea of a pest-like, miniature beast. The birth of Stripe is the first inkling into the mania that Gremlins soon becomes.
A small droplet of water splashes onto Gizmo, unleashing a frenzy as he withers and wails, birthing multiple Mogwais, with one particularly feisty one bearing a distinctive stripe on its head.
Recommended for you: 10 Best Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Moments
7. Spawning Swimming Pool
The terror of Gremlins is significantly associated with the foreboding warning that is continuously and very deliberately mentioned from the very beginning. With the three warning signs being tested in other scenes, we are all fully aware that nothing good can come from a Gremlin and a body of water.
After a Gremlin goose chase, Billy heads to the local YMCA, where the evil Stripe ran off to. Then, right in front of Billy and Gizmo’s eyes, Stripe leaps into a massive swimming pool, turning the water into a fizzy green test tube as a swarm of Gremlins arise to demolish the small town of Kingston Falls.
6. Dorry’s Tavern
Throughout the film, the Gremlins are on a mission to destroy everything they touch, whether that’s the local cinema, the community’s leisure centres, or even unsuspecting residents. One of the unlucky establishments is Dorry’s Tavern, a local bar at which the Gremlins have no qualms in causing havoc.
They gleefully hang off ceiling fans, swinging above the broken glasses and trashed bar stools. What’s also trashed is the group of Gremlins themselves (after swigging bottles of booze), making for a hilarious scene filled with plenty of debauchery, including gambling and bar fights.
