Gremlins

A boy inadvertantly breaks 3 important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.

• Director: Joe Dante
• Genre:Comedy / Fantasy / Horror
• Runtime:106 minutes

Cast

Hoyt Axton : Randall Peltzer
John Louie : Chinese Boy
Keye Luke : Grandfather (Mr. Wing)
Don Steele : Rockin’ Ricky Rialto (voice)
Susan Burgess : Little Girl

Randall Peltzer (Axton) is an inventor of modest abilities and questionable success. From the fictional community of Kingston Falls, he travels to Chinatown in Manhattan to sell his inventions and pick up a present for his son, Billy. A young Chinese boy (Louie) there takes Randall to his grandfather’s small shop, where Randall takes interest in a small cute furry creature called a mogwai (which in Cantonese translates literally as “monster”). Mr. Wing (Luke), the Chinese boy’s grandfather and owner of the shop, refuses to sell the mogwai, even when Randall offers $200 for it. This is money that the Wing family desperately needs, however, so Wing’s grandson secretly sells the mogwai to Randall. Though the creature seems innocent enough, the grandson warns Randall that he must not let the mogwai near bright light, especially sunlight, which can kill the mogwai; must not allow water to touch the mogwai (water causes reproduction roughly equivalent to one new mogwai per drop); and, most importantly, must never, ever feed it after midnight (which triggers its metamorphosis into a beast called a gremlin).

Randall names the creature “Gizmo” and brings him home to his son Billy. Billy (Galligan) has taken up a job at the bank to provide money for his parents, with whom he lives. He has a dog called Barney whose mischief makes him and Billy the targets of harassment by Ruby Deagle (Holliday), an elderly woman wielding much financial influence. Billy’s coworker and love interest Kate Beringer (Cates), a local bartender, sees directly the misery in the town caused by Mrs. Deagle’s business practices.

Billy is fascinated with Gizmo, who is highly intelligent, can hum a tune, and proves to be a very gentle and well-behaved creature. Unfortunately, Billy’s friend, Pete Fountaine (Feldman), accidentally spills water on Gizmo. This causes Gizmo to go into convulsions and instantly multiply, spawning five new mogwai by a process that appears painful to him. These new mogwai are much more aggressive than Gizmo. They are led by the mogwai Stripe, who has a white mohawk hairstyle. Billy later brings one to Pete’s science teacher Roy Hanson (Glynn Turman), and adds a drop of water to it to create another one. Roy aggravates the mogwai by sticking a needle in it for a blood test. Ignoring Billy’s cautions, Roy leaves food out, which the mogwai promptly steals and eats after midnight. Read more

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