Gremlins

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Gremlins ★★★ 1984 (PG)

Comedy horror with deft satiric edge. Produced by Spielberg. Fumbling gadget salesman Rand Peltzer is looking for something really special to get his son Billy. He finds it in a small store in Chinatown. The wise shopkeeper is reluctant to sell him the adorable “mogwai” but relents after fully warning him “Don't expose him to bright light, don't ever get him wet, and don't ever, ever feed him after midnight.” Naturally, this all happens and the result is a gang of nasty gremlins who decide to tear up the town on Christmas Eve. Followed by “Gremlins 2: The New Batch” which is less black comedy, more parody, and perhaps more inventive. 106m/C VHS, DVD . Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, Frances Lee McCain, Keye Luke, Dick Miller, Corey Feldman, Judge Reinhold, Glynn Turman, Scott Brady, Jackie Joseph; D: Joe Dante; W: Chris Columbus; C: John Hora; M: Jerry Goldsmith; V: Howie Mandel.