The legendary 2+ hour “assembly cut” of Joe Dante’s original horror classic Gremlins? Turns out it actually does exist. And it just screened for the very first time in Los Angeles.
“Long rumored and thought lost, this rough cut captures Gremlins before it became the film we know now,” a title card explained at the beginning of the screening. “Sourced from a 1983 First Assembly VHS, it preserves deleted scenes, alternate takes, and creative paths that were ultimately left behind.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit writes in an article published this weekend, “It’s a version of a movie not seen since 1983. It wasn’t even supposed to still exist. But we can definitively tell you that yes, Virginia, there really is a 2.5-plus hour cut ofGremlins.”
According to the report, this rough assembly cut of Gremlins runs around 2 hours, 35 minutes long, and it was unveiled as part of a secret screening attended by a select group of filmmakers and fans. This particular cut is from Joe Dante’s personal collection, and Ian Grant from The Gremlins Museum cleaned up and digitized the footage from Dante’s personal VHS tape.
“The cut features plenty of unseen character arcs and alternate takes,” Kit explains. “The first Gremlin doesn’t even show up until an hour in. Once the nasty little buggers do, however, there’s a lot of time spent on them (the chaos at the bar goes on for 10 or more minutes). Yes, we even get to see them walk.”
Kit’s report goes on to explain, “And Phoebe Cates’ speech about why she hates Christmas is nowhere to be found in this version.”
Gremlins star Zach Galligan did a live Q&A over on Instagram this week (watch below), where he discussed the assembly cut at length. He describes the rough extended cut of the film as “an absolute mind blower” and “a total revelation,” describing it as “an assembly of all the stuff that we shot back in 1983,” packed with “close to an hour of new footage.”
Zach Galligan even notes that the cut features “stuff I have absolutely no memory of having shot.” He also makes it clear that the Gremlins assembly cut features both previously released deleted scenes (you’ll find them on physical media) and most importantly, brand new footage Gremlins fans have NEVER seen up to this point. That previously unseen footage includes extended bits in the department store and the bank, as well as more in-depth character work.
“The characters are more fleshed out,” Galligan says, while adding that he feels his character Billy Peltzer comes off “more badass” in this longer version than the movie’s final cut.
The late Polly Holliday’s Mrs. Deagle is one of the characters that’s more fleshed out in this extended version, which features “a subplot of Mrs. Deagle trying to foreclose everyone’s house.” Galligan also explains that there’s a scene early in the movie where Billy saves one of Mrs. Deagle’s cats and returns it to her, which was ultimately excised from the movie.
You can watch Zach Galligan’s full Q&A video below to learn more.
Will the Gremlins Assembly Cut ever see release outside of these secret screenings? That remains to be seen. But the good news for now is that it does exist, and The Gremlins Museum has done a lot of hard work getting it ready for consumption by Gremlins fans.
Stay tuned for more as we learn it. You never know when the Gremlins might pop up…