Monsters are coming

Press, 15 November 1984, Page 11

Monsters are coming

From

CHARLES FRASER,

in Hollywood

The latest recipe, for a fortune you can count in millions, is to take one small, furry creature and add a few drops of water. The result is an instant crop of Gremlins — tiny pets which leave a trail of terror, eating teachers and taking over the community. “Gremlins,” in New Zealand cinemas next month, cost the Hollywood whizzkid director, Stephen Spielberg, $ll million dollars to make. But already the latest in a money-making wave of "creature features” is breaking box-office records throughout America. Suddenly, for reasons » even Hollywood cannot fathom, monster movies are making millions. For decades, strange beings lay dormant in a swamp of B-movies waiting to be reawakened. Then along came “Jaws,” grossing $6O million in its first month of release, “Close Encounters,” and “E.T.”

As one studio executive put it: “Space movies are now out — the monster next door is the biggest thing in years!” Robots, science fiction gadgets and space ships zapping each other have been consigned to the studio scrap-heap to make room for bizarre creatures, extrasensory powers and the mysteries of the universe. Last year’s noticeable rise in cinema box-office takings was largely due to the runaway success of

“E.T.,” which headed the prestigious top 20 films of “Screen International,” the trade magazine. Spin-offs in E.T. dolls, Tshirts, posters and countless other products grossed millions. Now “Gremlins,” just released in America, looks all set to eclipse them.

The movie, already doubled “E.T. with teeth,” is no three-hankie weepie about hands across the universe. The furry little stars of Spielberg’s new brainchild demand quite a strong stomach.

In the constant battle to prevent them multiplying, and devouring the world’s parent-teacher population, one is frazzled alive in an oven, and another messily exterminated in a liquidiser. Gizmo, the film’s star — who like E.T., shares an ability to multiply into millions of look-alikes in Christmas toy shops — is not the pet he appears.

He is, in fact, the last survivor of the planet Enz. Instructions from his previous owner, a Chinese gentleman, are specific — no light, no water, and no food after midnight. When a few drops of water accidentally land Gizmo, a family of red-eyed, long-fpnged little monsters jump from his fur. The rest of the movie hangs on a tooth-and-claw

fight to keep the devilish little delinquents from taking over the town. Monumental’ monster movies of the 30s, like “King Kong” and “Frankenstein,” have now been replaced by man-eating sharks, space creatures and amorphous blobs. Today’s booming specialeffects industry turns out highly sophisticated creatures stuffed with micro chips — a far cry from the prowling hearthrugs of years gone by. “Dune,” currently in the making, is a blockbuster creature feature with the dubious attraction of milelong worms.

“Ghostbusters” the American comedy, seriously threatening “Gremlins” at the box-office, features a marshmallow man as high as a block of flats. “Quatermass” takes the credit for first capturing viewers’ imagination with a convincing line in pulsating blobs. The vintage TV serial, which followed the fortunes of 100 gallons of green slime, topped the ratings. By the time Ridley Scott’s “Alien” broke box-office records, extra-terrestrial intruders were as nasty as ever, upturning all the patient missionary work of U.F.0.-believer, Stephen Spielberg.

The E.T. maestro cabled Scott after the. release of

“Alien” saying: “Gee whizz fella — I just spent three years trying to say that the little guys up there are sweet and wonderful, and now you’ve wiped all that out in one movie.”

Spielberg has now turned away from his little hero and pinned his faith on sawtoothed monsters. They strike deep-seated fears in cinema audiences, and make studio accountants glow with pleasure. His films love to linger on ordinary folk in suburbia, who stumble into close encounters with strange creatures of all shapes and sizes.

Even “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Temple of Doom,” which briefly left the commuter belt, are heavily laced with snakes and deadly insects. The unexpected, in the shape of weird, unpredictable creatures, make “Dark Crystal,” “The Hand,” “V,” and now “Gremlins,” forerunners in what the studios call soft sci-fi.

A sequal to “V,” “The Final Battle,” is now in production, and already the saga of a lizard girl who speaks with forked tongue is being tipped as the biggest TV money-spinner in years. Captain Kirk may still be out there somewhere, treading where no man has trodden before — but Hollywood these days is working overtime concocting creatures who cannot wait to tread on us! Features International