Chris Columbus opens up on the Making of Gremlins!

It could have been even more terrifying if you already considered Chris Columbus' Gremlins to be one of the gloomiest Christmas films ever. Columbus recently shared details of the 1984 movie's earlier, harsher script, which included a sequence he struggled to save.

The famous dark comedic holiday film Gremlins was written and directed by Chris Columbus and Joe Dante. In addition to Zach Galligan as Billy Peltzer, Phoebe Cates as Kate Beringer, Hoyt Axton as Randall, Polly Holliday as Ruby Deagle, and Frances Lee McCain as Lynn, it stars Howie Mandel as Gizmo.

 

Columbus discussed how the initial 1984 version's script was far darker than what he actually filmed in a media chat. He disclosed that more characters were brutally murdered in the earlier draft. Billy's mother, portrayed by Polly Holliday, for example, had her head fall down the stairs after being decapitated. In addition to becoming entangled in Christmas lights, the Gremlins killed Barney, the household dog, by hanging him by the neck.

 

Colombus revealed, "I think the dad stayed behind and fought the Gremlins, I don’t quite remember if he survived. The mom certainly didn’t. Billy ran into the foyer of his house, and his mom’s head came rolling down the stairs. So there were some deaths. And Barney the dog was not so lucky to just be hung up in the Christmas lights. He was actually hung up by his neck and died. We killed the dog!"

 

He went on to say, "The studio wanted to eliminate the tale that we ended up with about Phoebe Cates's father dying in the chimney. Joe Dante, Steven, and I battled for that. At the time, I did fight for that one item.

 

Columbus later remarked that he lacked the authority to dispute producer Steven Spielberg because he was a rookie to the business. Spielberg really made one significant revision to the script because he believed that Gizmo's transformation into a Gremlin early in the film was a horrible idea.