5 Movies That Ripped Off Gremlins, Ranked By Originality

Gremlins is an iconic piece of ’80s pop culture, and it spawned a legion of imitators. Out of all the copies, which Gremlins knock-off is the most original? Directed by Joe Dante (from a script by Christopher Columbus), the 1984 classic combines the thrills and chills of horror with a small dose of family-friendly comedy.

The story concerns an unsuspecting teen who is gifted a small creature known as a mogwai. When he fails to follow the creature’s very specific care instructions, his new pet unleashes a legion of evil little monsters on the town. The film’s plot is essentially a platform for Looney Tunes-style humor and bombastic puppet action.

Besides just being a great film in general, Gremlins created its own subgenre in horror. Other filmmakers saw the popularity of the blockbuster, and decided to try their hands at the creepy little monster trend. In the decade or so after the release of Gremlins, bona fide franchises popped up that started as cash-ins on the movie’s success.

Though some of them brought almost nothing new to the table, others took the Gremlins formula and ran with it. Originality isn’t necessarily the most important marker of a film’s quality, especially in horror, but some Gremlins rip-offs legitimately set themselves apart. Even though they live in the shadow of the classic ’80s flick, a few knock-offs shouldn’t be ignored.

5

Munchies (1987)

The Munchies look on in Munchies — The munchies look on in Munchies

B-movie icon Roger Corman was no stranger to a shameless rip-off, but Munchies was arguably his most bald-faced copy. An archeologist discovers a mischievous little creature in a cave in Peru, and it causes all sorts of chaos when it’s brought to the U.S. Like the eponymous gremlins, the munchies have irreverent personalities and a penchant for havoc.

As a film, Munchies has a measure of appeal for those that like Corman’s brand of low-budget cheese. It’s perhaps the most ’80s Gremlins rip-off, and is stuffed with just about every cliché from the totally tubular decade. Unfortunately, the humor isn’t nearly as witty, and a lot of the sex romp comedy falls quite flat after about 30 minutes.

Munchies is without a doubt the least original Gremlins clone, and it’s one of the few rip-offs that wears its status on its sleeve. In a way, the film positions itself as the raunchy alternative to Gremlins. However, that raunchy sense of humor does little to supplement the point-for-point theft of Gremlins‘ shtick.

If there was any doubt that Munchies is indeed a rip-off, it was directed by Tina Hirsch, the editor of Gremlins. While Hirsch’s work helped give Gremlins a snappy and fast-paced tone, there was little she could do to improve Munchies. It’s the only rip-off that actually hired a member of the crew of Gremlins.

4

Critters (1986)

A critter lurks on the couch in Critters

The inclusion of Critters on a list of Gremlins knock-offs comes with a big asterisk. Creator Stephen Herek has claimed on multiple occasions that the script was written before Joe Dante’s film premiered, and that it was actually altered to be less like Gremlins before it was finally completed. Nevertheless, Critters will never escape comparisons to its more successful predecessor.

Dismissing Critters as a mere copy would be a mistake, and it’s a surprisingly charming monster movie. The film concerns a family who come face to face with little creatures from outer space and the alien bounty hunters sent to kill them. The title creatures are a bit more terrifying than the mogwai, and their mischief has deadly consequences.

Tonally speaking, Critters and Gremlins are actually quite different. The former eschews the Looney Tunes humor of the latter, and has none of the whimsy of the aforementioned Steven Spielberg production. The division gets even more obvious in the Critters sequels, and the franchise becomes its own thing with each new movie.

Critters was followed by three sequels and a web series.

Despite all that, Critters still loses points on the originality scale. It might be the best of the Gremlins-inspired flicks, but it still bears too much of a resemblance to be called “original”. Though it may have been written before Gremlins, there’s little doubt that the success of Dante’s film influenced the production of Critters two years later.

3

Hobgoblins (1988)

There’s a case to be made for nominating Hobgoblins as one of the worst movies ever. However, it is a unique addition to the Gremlins knock-off canon. Unleashed from a film vault, a band of furry creatures cause everyone’s fantasies to become reality. That wrinkle to the hobgoblin mythos is the only clever part of the movie.

Besides a great script and strong acting, one thing that Gremlins had going for it was its budget and practical effects. Hobgoblins has none of the aforementioned things, and has the worst creature puppets of any Gremlins copy. It isn’t funny, and it isn’t scary, so it mostly bounds from one baffling scene to the next with very little motivation.

The most frustrating part of Hobgoblins is that the movie’s creatures had potential. The juxtaposition between films and dreams is intriguing, but it’s completely squandered. It’s nothing like Gremlins in terms of tone, because it doesn’t really have a consistent tone to speak of. It takes a lazy pass at sex comedy tropes, but is even less sexy than Munchies.

After that dogpile of negativity, Hobgoblins is one of the more original Gremlins rip-offs. Even though it’s a blatant copy, it bombs so hard that it ends up distinguishing itself. Hobgoblins isn’t really like Gremlins because it’s hardly like a movie at all. It took the brilliant wit of Mystery Science Theater 3000 to make the movie even halfway palatable.

2

Ghoulies (1985)

The title creatures lurk in the shadows in Ghoulies

Following in the footsteps of other schlock pioneers like Roger Corman, Charles Band made a name by producing low-budget horror movies. Ghoulies was one of his earlier successes, and it has a fascinating history with Gremlins. A little known fact about Ghoulies is that it was produced at the same time as Gremlins, and Warner Bros. actually unsuccessfully sued.

When comparing the two films, they couldn’t seem any more different on the surface. Ghoulies is the story of a young man who inherits his family’s house, and learns of his ancestors’ satanic practices. Instead of being from outer space, or simply appearing, the ghoulies are actually creatures summoned from the depths of Hell by the movie’s protagonist.

With everything else going on in the movie, the little monsters certainly seem like a tacked-on addition to capitalize on the Gremlins craze. However, they do little to elevate what is a pretty ridiculous horror flick. It’s an effects-driven film that puts plot second. Though it’s not very good, it is one of the more original Gremlins knock-offs.

1

The Gate (1987)

The demons peer through bars in The Gate — The demons looks through bars in The Gate

Unlike other so-called rip-offs of Gremlins, the little creatures in The Gate aren’t even the most interesting part of the movie. A young boy is haunted by demonic forces after a portal to hell is discovered in his backyard. While Gremlins had some family-friendly elements, The Gate is pure horror.

The small demonic entities that appear in the film are nothing like the mogwai, and they don’t feel superfluous or tacked-on like other gremlin-like creatures. The Gate is a truly underrated horror film from the ’80s, and it’s a shame that it is often dismissed as a copy of Gremlins.

Naturally, it’s the most original Gremlins knock-off, by far, because it hardly counts as a knock-off to begin with. There’s clear intent to the storytelling, and no aspect of the film feels shaped by the 1984 hit. In a world where Gremlins doesn’t exist, it’s easy to see how The Gate would still get made.

Source: SyFy