A teenager receives a strange pet. The pet should be kept away from water, light & never to feed it after midnight. Promptly ignoring all the rules, he must deal with the chaos that breaks loose. Written by Chris Columbus, a film by Joe Dante, starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, and Frances Lee McCain.

The neon glow of Chinatown bathes Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton), a struggling inventor visiting several shops in an attempt to sell his merchandise. Also hoping to find a Christmas present for his son Billy, Randall follows a Chinese boy (John Louie) who leads him to his grandfather’s antique store located in the basement of a suspiciously dark corner of the block.

Inside, Randall boasts about one of his inventions, the Bathroom Buddy, and proudly demonstrates how it works in front of the boy and his grandfather Mr. Wing (Keye Luke), but his showcase fails miserably. Distracted by the strange sound coming from the back of the shop, Randall cannot help but search for its source.

Randall encounters a small, furry creature called a mogwai, immediately fascinated by its cute appearance and singing ability. He offers to buy the creature for $100 from the owner, but the old man politely declines, asserting that mogwai is not for sale. However, Randall, determined to show his desire, increases his bid to $200. Nonetheless, the owner remains firm. Randall is disappointed, but the boy asks him to wait outside. A moment later, the boy brings him the mogwai, in exchange for $200. The boy instructs Randall to follow three crucial rules: first, to keep him out of the light, especially sunlight, which would be fatal, second, to keep him away from water; and third, the most important rule of all, never to feed him after midnight.

Randall names the mogwai “Gizmo” and explains the three rules to Billy, who eagerly welcomes Gizmo as his new pet. The next day, Billy’s friend Pete accidentally spills water over Gizmo, causing five more mogwai to emerge from his back. These new creatures, however, are not as cute as Gizmo, particularly the aggressive one with the tuft of white fur on his head, whom Billy names Stripe.

Led by the mischievous Stripe, a group of mogwai tamper with Billy’s alarm clock, ensuring he will feed them past midnight. The mogwai devour their forbidden meal, then spin silky cocoons, their forms writhing within. Soon, they emerge as mischievous, dark green, reptilian monsters called Gremlins, unleashing terror upon the unsuspecting town.

GREMLINS is an instant classic horror film, blending comical elements with incredible, life-like puppets designed by American special effects artist Chris Walas. These puppets breathe life into the story, especially the irresistibly adorable Gizmo.

The production faced difficulties due to the mogwai’s small size compared to other puppets, leading to frequent breakdowns during filming. Chris Walas suggested making the mogwai larger, but Joe Dante maintained the small size, prioritizing the creatures’ cuteness over ease of production. Dante acknowledged the crew’s hardship by including a scene where the gremlins hang Gizmo on a wall and throw darts at him, a suggestion from the crew’s “Horrible Things to do to Gizmo” list.

Directed by Joe Dante, with a story by Chris Columbus, who drew inspiration for the script from the mythical gremlins, small mischievous monsters blamed for mechanical failures in British Royal Air Force aircraft during World War II (1939-1945). These gremlins gained wider fame when British author Roald Dahl published a book called “The Gremlins” in 1943, which Walt Disney considered adapting into a film but later shelved the project due to various challenges.

Chris Columbus originally wrote the screenplay as a spec script to demonstrate his writing skills to potential employers, never imagining anyone would buy the rights to make it into a film. That changed when Steven Spielberg read it and was so impressed that he bought the rights and adapted the script for film. Spielberg initially considered Tim Burton as director, but ultimately chose Joe Dante, whose experience with horror-comedy in “The HOWLING” (1981) made him the perfect fit. Spielberg then brought the project to Warner Bros. and co-produced it with his company, Amblin Entertainment.

It’s one of the most original things I’ve come across in many years, which is why I bought it. — Steven Spielberg

The first version of the script was significantly darker than the final film. Several scenes were omitted, including Billy’s mother being killed by gremlins and her head thrown down the stairs, gremlins devouring Billy’s dog, and gremlins attacking a McDonald’s and consuming customers instead of burgers. The script also went through numerous alterations, including the original plot point where Gizmo was supposed to transform into a vicious gremlin. Spielberg overruled this element because he felt Gizmo’s cuteness was crucial, and viewers would want him present throughout the film. Therefore, the script was rewritten to introduce Stripe as a separate character.

Upon completion of the film, studio executives insisted on removing a specific scene where Kate reveals her father died at Christmas while dressed as Santa Claus to surprise his family, tragically breaking his neck while climbing down the chimney. They found its tone too ambiguous, uncertain whether it aimed for humor or sadness. Spielberg disliked the scene but left the decision to Dante, who kept it, arguing it embodied the film’s blend of horror and comedy.

It was Christmas Eve. I was 9 years old. Me and Mom were decorating the tree, waiting for dad to come home from work. A couple hours went by. Dad wasn’t home. So mom called the office. No answer. Christmas Day came and went, and still nothing. So the police began a search. Four or five days went by. Neither one of us could eat or sleep. Everything was falling apart. It was snowing outside. The house was freezing, so l went to try to light up the fire. That’s when I noticed the smell. The firemen came and broke through the chimney top. And me and mom were expecting them to pull out a dead cat or a bird. And instead they pulled out my father. He was dressed in a Santa Claus suit. He’d been climbing down the chimney. His arms loaded with presents. He was gonna surprise us. He slipped and broke his neck. He died instantly. And that’s how l found out there was no Santa Claus.

Most of the other cast were seasonal actors, who were either moderately famous or had experience in other films. Zach Galligan, however, was relatively unknown. Spielberg urged Dante to cast Galligan as Billy after seeing strong chemistry between him and Cates during their auditions.

GREMLINS was theatrically released in the United States on 8 June 1984. The film received critical and commercial success, and grossed over $212 million worldwide against its $11 million production budget.

Following its home media release in 1985 on VHS, CED Videodisc, and Betamax, the film also earned over $79.5 million in video rental stores. In 1997, GREMLINS was released for the first time on DVD, which included the film in both full screen (4:3 aspect ratio) and widescreen (1.85:1 aspect ratio) versions.

Celebrated with a 25th anniversary Blu-ray edition on 1 December 2009, GREMLINS returned to home video a decade later in stunning 4K Ultra HD on 1 October 2019.