| nudity |
A gremlin in a trench coat comically 'flashes' a woman.
Some mild sexual references.
1 kiss |
| violence |
Violence and mayhem throughout. Sometimes blood.
Billy's mom turns a blender on while a gremlin is eating out of it, causing green slime to splatter everywhere.
Another gremlin is thrown in the microwave and blows up, splattering slime all over the microwave.
A gremlin, hiding in a Christmas tree, attacks Billy's mom and scratches her face and head.
Billy decapitates a gremlin with a sword and we see the head burning in the fireplace, but only for a few seconds.
A couple is attacked in their home by a bulldozer (they survive).
A woman is killed when her elevating chair malfunctions and catapults her out a window, we see her legs sticking out of the ground after she is flattened on the street.
We hear cars crash after a gremlin tampers with a stoplight.
A police car flips over after a gremlin disconnects the brake.
Gremlins are burned in when a movie theater explodes.
The gremlin leader melts. Most of this part would be intense for young children.
A gremlin breaks a radio, causing it to explode and making Billy's head bleed.
Billy is shot with a small crossbow and is attacked by a gremlin with a chainsaw.
Billy reaches for a phone, but a gremlin scratches his hand.
A man's hand is bitten by a gremlin, which he is trying to lure out of hiding. The audience can hear biting noises and the man's screams. Then, Billy comes in and sees the man lying on the floor, motionless with a needle in his buttocks. It is not clear if he is dead or simply unconscious.
In a video kids are watching in science class, men are showing an example of a rabbit's heart. |
| profanity |
Some misuses of "God." Also instances of "damn," "shit," and "asshole," amidst other cursing. |
| alcohol |
Gremlins smoke. A character gets drunk; Gremlins also get drunk. |
| frightening |
This movie was made before the PG-13 rating came out. So this movie was rated PG. Although, because of it's more violent sequences, if re-rated, would probably get a PG-13 rating.
Many 'pop-out' moments where the creatures jump out of dark corners and attack the characters. A gremlin's graphic demise by sunlight involves him melting into a pile of slime.
Their first form is cute but when they "morph" children will find them frightening.
Kate's monologue might some children might find frightening and disturbing (as well as some teens and possibly adults). During this speech she also says "...and that is how I found out there was no Santa Claus," which could be difficult to explain to some children.
This is roughly what is said: "When I was nine, I had the worst Christmas of my life. On the night before Christmas, my mother and I sat on the couch waiting for my father to arrive home. But he never did. Christmas day came and went, and we heard nothing from him. I tried his cell phone - No answer. So I rang his office, and again no answer. We had the police out in full force looking for him in the snowy streets. Five days went by and neither of us could eat or sleep. On the 6th day, it was very cold and I went to light a fire. I could smell something burning, and it didn't smell very nice at all. The Fire fighters came round to inspect the chimney, I expected them to pull out a dead cat or bird. But they didn't. They pulled out my father's charred corpse. He was dressed in a Santa outfit, as he had planned to come down the chimney and surprise us. Instead he had slipped and fell, breaking his neck and dying instantly, and his body had been decaying in our chimney for 6 days. And that's how I found out that Santa isn't real." ~ Which is very dark!
A rabbit's beating heart is shown on a screen, in a science classroom.
The true essence of Gremlins is that's it is a "comedy" and there are some genuinely funny moments sprinkled in the madness and mayhem. Some of the things listed in here and in the Violence/Gore section were made to comedic (expect the Santa speech CREEPY!)
Suggested MPAA rating - PG-13 for sequences of creature violence including disturbing images, crude humor, some language, and thematic material. |
