Gremlins: A Puppet Story

Watching RedLetterMedia in 2020,I was interested to hear Jay Bauman mention about a rare new documentary on the making of Gremlins (1984),only streaming for a limited time on The Hollywood Theatre venue website, with all rentals of the doc helping to support the cinema. Having always enjoyed Gremlins,and aware of the limited availability,I looked to discover who was the puppet master.

View on the film:

Turning the opening pages of the film by showing his notes of excitement in the original shooting script, Chris Walas unveils a incredible amount of never before seen archive material on the special effects creation.

Spending most of the film focused on the long pre-production process, Walas displays every level in the creation of the Gremlins from cans of 16MM film, videos and photos,which capture the test runs and hours the crew spent finding the right speed the Gremlins to move at,so that they looked realistic in the setting of the movie,rather then Uncanny Valley puppets.

Giving a glimpse of the few remaining bits of Gremlins,Chris Walas brings a warmth and a passion in his narration across all the test footage, with the love and care he has for practical effects,bring Gizmo to life again.