Joe Dante Screened a Never-Before-Seen Assembly Cut of ‘Gremlins’?!
Picture getting invited to a secret screening and being told not to miss it under any circumstances. Then the lights go down, you settle into your seat with popcorn in hand, and discover that the movie you’re about to watch hasn’t been seen in more than 40 years. Not just any lost film artifact, either, but a genuine holy grail of horror cinema: a legendary alternate cut of Gremlins that has remained hidden for decades.
Last night, director Joe Dante stunned a packed theater of friends, collaborators, and devoted horror fans by screening a never-before-seen 1983 assembly cut of the beloved horror classic. Running roughly an hour longer than the version released in June 1984, the early cut featured extensive alternate takes, deleted character moments, and dramatically expanded Gremlin sequences that few people even knew still existed.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Dante gave the only known surviving version — his personal VHS copy — to The Gremlins Museum, an online archive and showcase of Gremlins props by Gremlins fanatic Ian Grant.
“Grant then spent months cleaning up the material, digitizing it, and making it presentation worthy,” notes the site.
The cut features plenty of unseen character arcs and alternate takes, they teased, noting that the first Gremlin doesn’t even show up until an hour in.
“This is a very unusual screening,” said Dante. “You usually don’t go back into the archives and pull out stuff from the bin and show it to people, warts and all.”
Director Micheline Pitt attended the screening and tweeted: “It was amazing! The original is perfect but to see the expansion of the characters in the film as well as so much more Mogwi and Gremlins madness was so special. I hope it can find a way for others to see it!”
Star Zach Galligan did an IG Q&A for fans to discuss this historic discovery. Check it out:
Here’s a clean breakdown of everything we learned from THR:
- A newly revealed assembly cut of Gremlins was created in late 1983.
- The assembly cut runs approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes.
- It is about an hour longer than the theatrical version released in June 1984.
- The released film later became regarded as an ’80s classic.
- Rumors about the longer cut circulated for years.
- Director Joe Dante only confirmed its existence this year.
- Dante provided the only known surviving version — his personal VHS copy — to The Gremlins Museum.
- The archive is operated by Gremlins collector and fan Ian Grant.
- Grant spent months:
- Cleaning up the footage
- Digitizing the tape
- Preparing it for presentation
- The cut includes:
- Unseen character arcs
- Alternate takes
- Extended Gremlin sequences
- In this version:
- The first Gremlin does not appear until roughly one hour into the film.
- The bar chaos sequence lasts 10+ minutes.
- The Gremlins are shown walking.
- Phoebe Cates’ famous Christmas monologue is absent.
- Dante described the screening as unusual, noting that filmmakers rarely revisit and publicly show unfinished archival material “warts and all.”
Categorized:News