

When Billy's young friend Pete accidentally spills water over Gizmo, five more mogwai spawn from his back, a more troublemaking sort led by the aggressive Stripe, named after the tuft of fur on his head. Randall names the mogwai "Gizmo", explains the three rules he was told, and Billy makes sure to treat him well. Billy works in the local bank, but fears that his dog Barney will be put down by the elderly miser Mrs. Randall returns home to Kingston Falls where he gives the mogwai to Billy as a pet.

Wing, refuses to sell Randall the creature, but his grandson secretly overrules him, warning Randall to remember three important rules: do not expose the mogwai to light, especially sunlight, which will kill it do not let it come in contact with water and above all, never feed it after midnight. Inside, Randall encounters a small, furry creature called a mogwai ( Cantonese: 魔怪, 'devil'). Struggling inventor Randall Peltzer visits a Chinatown antique store, hoping to find a Christmas present for his son Billy. It was followed by a sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, which uses a more satirical tone and parodies Hollywood sequels, while a third film, Gremlins 3, is in active development. In response to this and to similar complaints about Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg suggested that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) alter its rating system, which it did within two months of the film's release, creating a new PG-13 rating. However, it was heavily criticized for some of its more violent sequences. Gremlins was theatrically released on Jby Warner Bros. Steven Spielberg was the film's executive producer, with the film being produced by Michael Finnell.

The film was the center of large merchandising campaigns and opts for black comedy, balanced against a Christmas time setting. The story follows a young man who receives a strange creature as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, aggressive monsters that all wreak havoc on a whole town on Christmas Eve. It draws on legends of folkloric mischievous creatures that cause malfunctions-" gremlins"-in the British Royal Air Force going back to World War II and stars Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo, the main mogwai character. Gremlins is a 1984 American comedy horror film classic directed by Joe Dante and written by Chris Columbus.
