Practical Magic
Corin Hardy, director of Whistle and The Nun, reveals his all time festive favourite.
Like many first time watches of Joe Dante’s masterpiece, Gremlins, I was probably not really ready for the magical, fun and sometimes shocking monster experience of seeing those lovable cuddly Mogwai creatures transform into vicious, anarchic little b*****ds – the glorious Gremlins! Its unique, unconventional and slightly ‘dangerous’ tone has a lot to answer for. It’s got that Spielberg-gone-punk-rock quality in the way that some of those 80’s ‘kids movies’ got away with back then, but wouldn’t get made now (see also Poltergeist, The Dark Crystal, Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom). There are so many unhinged and wonderful sequences in Gremlins, from the kitchen attack, to the bar takeover, to the department store climax and the Gremlins singing Christmas carols and experiencing Snow White together.
Chris Walas’ incredible and insane dedication to the practical FX puppetry of bringing the Gremlins to life in camera was mind blowing and partially inspired me to pursue being a Monster Maker in real life. When I began to direct music videos it was a huge influence, especially when I wanted to bring chaos and anarchy to The Prodigy’s video for ‘Warrior’s Dance’ by injecting personalities into cigarette packets and letting them loose behind the closed post-midnight doors of an East London pub.
For me, it’s also just the ultimate Christmas Movie – just don’t let your kids watch the bit where Phoebe Cates tells Zach Gallighan the reason she hates Christmas… because that’s the real horror story.
