Gremlins (movie)
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- This is an article about the movie Gremlins. See Gremlin for the fantastical beings.
Gremlins is a 1984 movie directed by Joe Dante. It stars Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates. A sequel called Gremlins 2: The New Batch was released in 1990. Unlike this cartoon-like sequel, the original Gremlins opts for black comedy, which is balanced against a Christmastime setting.
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Plot
Rand Peltzer (played by Hoyt Axton) goes on a trip to New York City and decides to pick up a present for his son Billy Peltzer (Galligan). He happens upon a small shop in Chinatown which sells him a small, cute, furry creature called a mogwai (which, in Cantonese Chinese, translates literally as "evil spirit"). Though it seems innocent enough, the seller warns him that he must obey three rules about taking care of the creature: he must not let it near bright light, he must not get water on it, and, most importantly, never feed it after midnight.
Randy names the creature Gizmo and brings it home to his son. Unfortunately, Billy and his friends inadvertantly start breaking the rules about caring for it. They get water on Gizmo, causing him to instantly multiply. Even worse, the new and much more anti social mogwai (led by Stripe, who has a white mohawk-like hairstyle) that have spawned from Gizmo trick their guardians into feeding them after midnight, and transform into dark green gremlins which wreak havoc upon Billy's town. Together with his girlfriend Kate Beringer (Cates), Billy must stop the gremlins before they can cause any more damage.
Awards
Gremlins won the following awards:
- The 1985 Saturn Award for Best Director, Best Horror Film, Best Music, Best Special Effects, and Best Supporting Actress (Polly Holliday) from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films
- The 1985 Golden Screen Award
- The 1985 Young Artist Award for Best Family Motion Picture - Adventure
The film was also nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama (Corey Feldman).
Technical data
- Writing: Chris Columbus
- Music: Jerry Goldsmith, Noel Regney
- Creature design: Chris Walas
- Runtime: 106 minutes
- Sound: 70 mm 6-Track/Dolby
- Aspect ratio: 1.85 : 1
- Release date: June 8, 1984
- Budget: $11,000,000
- Total gross (USA): $148,170,000
- MPAA rating: PG
- Distribution: Warner Bros.
- Production: Amblin Entertainment
See also
External links
- Template:Imdb title
- All Movie Guide entry for Gremlins (http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=A20918)