The Origin

In February 2026, during a conversation with creature creator Chris Walas, an old Gremlins mystery resurfaced. Chris mentioned that far more gags were designed and filmed for the Dorry’s Tavern sequence than ever appeared in the finished movie. In his recollection, as much as 20 minutes of material may have existed in the film’s first rough cut, an early assembly intended for director Joe Dante to evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and what needed refinement. From there, scenes would be tightened, tones adjusted, and the film shaped into the version audiences ultimately saw.

Armed with that information, I asked Joe the question Gremlins fans have been quietly asking for decades: does the original Gremlins rough cut still exist?

Historically, Joe has been understandably reluctant to share this version. The theatrical cut is the film as he wants it seen: fully refined, with finalized sound design, creature voices, and a clear directorial voice. Rough cuts, by nature, are messy. They’re transitional, not meant for public consumption but in this case there is much to be learned about the history of the production.

A few days later, Joe got back to me with an intriguing discovery: a VHS tape labeled “11/23/83 – Gremlins 1st Assembly.” Given the date and what Chris had described, it was immediately clear that this could be something extraordinary. Joe generously offered to send the tape up so I could oversee its digitization, and all that was left to do was wait...and hope.

A mere day or two passed and a FedEx box arrived. The contents were not one, but two tapes. Alongside the 1st Assembly was another VHS marked simply “Gremlins Outtakes.” Tucked inside was a handwritten note from Joe that read: “Not sure what’s on this one, but take a look.”

The tapes were quickly brought to one of Seattle’s top media services companies for supervised digitization. At 43 years old, they could have contained anything, or nothing at all. But with a bit of luck on our side, they turned out to be a treasure trove of long-lost Gremlins material.

The Gremlins Rough Cut presents the film in its earliest form: longer and alternative takes, deleted plot points, larger character arcs, raw camera audio with animatronic puppet sounds, and a movie which at times has a completely different feel. Creature sounds are largely temporary, far removed from the polished, iconic voices later provided by performers such as Howie Mandel, Frank Welker, and Mark Dodson. The rough cut total runtime clocks in at 2 hours and 35 minutes, an almost hour longer than the final theatrical cut.

A mysterious second "Gremlins Outtakes" tape contains approximately 40 minutes of deleted and alternate material. Some of these moments overlap with the rough cut, while others are entirely unique sequences written and filmed but cut before the assembly stage. Scenes long rumored to exist such as Barney knocking over Mrs. Deagle's snowman and full mogwai walking shots are confirmed here for the first time.

Creation of the Gremlins Screening Rough Cut

While the rough cut is historically significant, it is unmistakably a working assembly and in VHS level quality. Most of it is solely unmodified dialog audio paired with extremely rough temporary creature audio— often little more than high-pitched squeals bearing little resemblance to the finalized performances. Other stretches play in near silence, broken only by the hum of the VHS tape itself. It is a fascinating document, but not an easy nearly three-hour watch for an audience.

For that reason, the original rough cut is being preserved as a standalone archival artifact and separately, I’ve been compiling what I’m calling the “Screening Rough Cut.”

This version maintains the structure of the 1983 assembly, but replaces placeholder creature sounds with the finalized performances and carefully reintroduces select Jerry Goldsmith score cues to support the expanded runtime.

In more than a handful of instances, entire scenes existed with little to no production audio beyond tape noise, so appropriate foley and ambient sound cues have been added where necessary to ensure the film plays cohesively from start to finish.

The second VHS, labeled “Gremlins Outtakes,” also contains scenes removed prior to the rough cut’s assembly. These sequences have been reinserted to present the most complete version of the early narrative.

As an Avid TV editor for a decade in a previous chapter of my life, projects like this are exactly what I used to dream about. It’s incredibly rewarding to put these skills to use for something truly meaningful. I also have a talented team lined up to help bring it across the finish line, including a professional audio mix with VHS hum removal, and final mastering. In the end, it will still look like VHS, but a really cleaned up version that should be a joy to watch.

It's important to note, an obvious question that I'm sure will get asked: When and where can this be seen? As a Warner Brothers/Amblin property, I’m not able to distribute it publicly, nor is it really mine to give out. My hope is that Joe may one day choose to host a screening (that Chris and Zach have already expressed interest in attending) where an audience of people can experience this together for the first time. I also think Warner Bros. Archives could consider it as a standalone release or potentially include it in a future Blu-ray set with Gremlins 3 around the corner. This rough cut is without question worthy of all these options and seeing it will be an extremely emotional experience for many Gremlin fans, as it was for me.

Who was, possibly, a little sheepish about the whole thing: No director really likes having their raw footage shown, especially in a film with lots of tricky puppet effects like Gremlins. Dante noted that the version Grant got his hands on features a lot of early subplots that were in Chris Columbus’ script, but which were cut for pacing. (In this version, the movie’s first actual Gremlin doesn’t show up until more than an hour in.) Dante did seem a little touched by the dedication, though, thanking Grant while cautioning audiences not to take this version of the movie “with them” after viewing it.

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 of Gremlins.

And, in its first-ever screening, a select few fans, who also happen to be leading the charge of the new generation of horror, got to see it Thursday night.

The audience initially had no idea what they were in for. The invite, “to watch a movie no one has ever seen,” was texted to select members of the horror community and was being presented by Verve and Scott Glassgold’s 1201 Films production banner. “You will never forgive yourself,” it read.

“It’s an archival screening, in a way,” is what Gremlins’ legendary director Joe Dante said, describing the evening and what was about to be shown. He cautioned that this was a rough version, filled with greasy pencil marks and missing scenes, and said he hoped the assembled crowd wouldn’t replace the finished film that has lived on in their heads with the imperfection about to be shows.

The crowd was a who’s who of today’s horror players: Final Destination: Bloodlines filmmakers (and Gremlins 3 writers) Adam B. Stein and Zach Lipovsky, Drew Hancock (Companion), Rob Savage (The Boogeyman), Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (Novocaine), Brian Duffield (Whalefall), Akela Cooper (M3GAN), Guy Busick (Ready or Not), Atomic Monster producer Michael Clear, Adam Robitel (Escape Room) and 20th Century Studios head Steve Asbell, among others.

All were there to see the curtain unveiled behind a monster movie that blended horror and comedy, helped bring about the PG-13 rating, launched Chris Columbus‘ writing career, and introduced a set of rules a generation of movie-watchers lived by.

Made in late 1983, the assembly cut ran about 2 hours, 35 minutes, about an hour longer than the movie released in June 1984, now fondly remembered as an ‘80s classic. While rumors of its existence swirled for years, it was only this year that Dante finally copped to it existing.

He gave the only known surviving version — his personal VHS copy, for Gimzo’s sake! — 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.

The cut features plenty of unseen character arcs and alternate takes. 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. And Phoebe Cates’ speech about why she hates Christmas is nowhere to be found in this version.

“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.”