When it comes to high-quality horror movie sequels, Joe Dante's Gremlins 2 is often cited as one of the better examples. Although the film was nowhere as financially successful as the original, the film was largely praised for being bigger, bolder, bloodier, and more of an all-around comedic blast than its PG-rated predecessor.
Released on June 15, 1990, Gremlins 2 finds Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) seven years later, now working as an executive in a high-tech skyscraper. When Billy's lovable pal Gizmo is doused with water by an evil scientist, a gaggle of ferocious gremlins overrun the high-rise with reckless abandon.
10 Joe Dante's Involvement
Following the massive success of Gremlins in 1984, Warner Bros. immediately sought a sequel from director Joe Dante. However, Dante passed, due to his interest in other projects, before returning seven years later when he was given free rein by the studio.
In his absence, several plot ideas entertained the notion of bringing the Gremlins to planet Mars or the city of Las Vegas. According to the Gremlins 2 DVD commentary, Dante eventually agreed to make the film when Warner Bros. allowed him to retain total creative control, at which point he conjured the skyrise plotline.
9 Overhead Footage Taken From Superman IV
During one of the opening shots of the film, aerial footage of New York City is shown. The footage was not filmed for Gremlins 2, but was rather stock footage taken from another recent Warner Bros. movie.
In fact, the overhead shots of New York City were lifted from stock footage filmed for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. Despite having a $50 million budget, the recycled footage was a shrewd cost-saving measure by Dante to focus more on the expensive special FX.
8 Daniel Clamp Parodies Donald Trump
One of the main characters in Gremlins 2 is a greedy, power-hungry real-estate tycoon named Daniel Clamp (John Glover). The character is an amalgamation of Donald Trump and media mogul Ted Turner, and the film's setting Clamp Tower is a riff on Trump Tower.
While this is fairly easy to recognize, a deleted scene found on the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film features a voice that states: "You know, I've been thinking. Mr. Clamp would make a great President." Twenty-six years later, the film proved to be prophetic.
7 Chuck Jones Came Out Of Retirement
The opening and closing scenes of Gremlins 2 features classic Looney Toons sequences with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. These scenes were constructed by Looney Toons creator Chuck Jones, who was talked out of retirement by Joe Dante to work on the film.
According to the deleted scenes and DVD commentary, the opening cartoon short was much longer than seen in the theatrical cut. There is also a post-credit scene involving Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. Chuck Jones also made a cameo appearance in the first film, but did not in the sequel.
6 Leonard Maltin Cameo
Speaking of cameo appearances, one of the most memorable featured in Gremlins 2 includes that of film critic Leonard Maltin, who famously gave the original Gremlins a negative review.
Despite being offended by the critique at the time, Dante specifically cast Maltin to restate his criticism of the 1984 film, during which he is savagely slaughtered by the gremlins on the fictional Movie Police TV show. When the gremlins assault him as he dismisses the video release of Gremlins, Maltin reverses course and begs, "I was just kidding. It's a 10. A 1o!"
5 Fats Domino Replaced Billy Idol
One of the most memorable scenes of the film comes when Gizmo is seen dancing to Fats Domino's song, "I'm Ready." However, the scene was written with another self-referential song in mind.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Gizmo was supposed to cut a rug to Billy Idol's 1985 hit, "Dancing With Myself." When Warner Bros. was unable to obtain the rights to use the song, the Fats Domino track was chosen instead. Both songs feature a similar upbeat tempo.
4 Brain Gremlin's Musical Number
Speaking of musical numbers, another standout scene in the film includes the Brain Gremlin's old-timey song and dance routine in which he leads a gaggle of Gremlins in a gaudy performance of "New York, New York."
According to Dante in a Windsor Star interview in 1990, "the musical number was a shameless steal" from the 1934 film Dames, also a Warner Bros. release. Dames also features a power-starved multimillionaire intent on controlling entertainment content.
3 Altered VHS Scene
Gremlins 2 features a gimmick taken from William Castle's The Tingler, in which gremlin characters attack a movie theater projection room to appear as if they are breaking the fourth-wall and appearing in the movie theater itself. However, two different versions were constructed for various releases of the film.
For the theatrical release and cable airings, footage of pro wrestler Hulk Hogan is shown during the projection scene. In the VHS version, footage of John Wayne from the movie Chisum is shown, with an actor overdubbing his voice. This was done to make it appear as if the VCR was broken, rather than the theater projector.
2 Warner Bros. Sneaky Release Plan
According to the DVD commentary, Joe Dante has maintained that the reason for Gremlins 2 failing at the box-office was due to the lengthy amount of time between it and the original. But according to a 1990 interview with Cahiers Du Cinema, the Warner Bros. release strategy also played a part.
Speaking with the premiere French film publication, Dante posited that Gremlins 2 was deliberately slated to open against Dick Tracy in June 1990 in order to keep the record-setting box-office performance of Batman intact.
1 Joe Dante Prefers The Sequel Over The Original
Although the 1984 original earned more money and better critical reviews, director Joe Dante hast stated on the DVD commentary that he actually prefers the sequel. According to the DVD commentary for the original Gremlins, Dante stated that he still has no idea why the first movie was so successful.
In addition to having a bigger budget and more creative control, Dante enjoyed making what he called a parodic "anti-sequel" that poked fun at the original and skewered movie sequels in general.
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