A guy inherits a house from his Satanist parents, gets wrapped up in using their grimoires and magics to summon demons and make himself powerful, and then accidentally releases the spirit of his undead father who wants to kill him to make himself immortal or something. Oh, and there are parties, a bunch of friends, a creepy clown doll, midgets, and monsters that were obviously hand puppets. The movie is a mess of ideas, and the little critters that are in it don’t really feel like they hold much purpose beyond a possible cash in on the Gremlins hype.
Ok, it’s definitely a cash in on Gremlins. I kid, I kid, it really was just the luck of the draw. There was even a lawsuit between the two movies, but they were not related. Truth is, that’s just one of several lawsuits around this movie. Charles Band, owner of the distributor Empire Pictures, was not a well liked man.
Still, there are a few entertaining moments involving the little dudes, and the demon little persons were probably the best part of the picture. There are also some entertaining moments involving crooked contact lenses though, so I suppose that says a lot about this picture. It’s mediocre at best, and I’d rather go watch Gremlins or Critters instead. Not Hobgoblins though, that movie sucks. I need to get around to seeing Munchies some time…
Somehow they made 4 of these movies. But the most famous shot of the movie, a demon popping out of the toilet, was created originally for the ad campaign. The brief shot of the demon appearing was only filmed afterwards. This led to angry parents sending in complaints that their children were now scared of the bathroom. Thanks, Ghoulies! The idea was brought back repeatedly throughout the series.
Also this is Mariska Hargitay’s first film. Heh, how about that?
Movie Reviews by a Mook 