Gremlins is an American comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante
and released in 1984 by Warner Bros. It is about a young man who
receives a strange creature (called a mogwai) named Gizmo as a pet,
which then spawns other creatures who transform into small,
destructive, evil monsters. This story was continued with a sequel,
Gremlins 2: The New Batch, released in 1990. Unlike the lighter
sequel, the original Gremlins opts for more black comedy, which is
balanced against a Christmas-time setting. Both films were the
center of large merchandising campaigns. Steven Spielberg was the
film's executive producer, with the screenplay written by Chris
Columbus. The film stars Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates, with Howie
Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo. The actors had to work
alongside numerous puppets, as puppetry was the main form of
special effects used to portray Gizmo and the gremlins. Gremlins
was a commercial success and received positive feedback from
critics. However, the film has also been heavily criticized for
some of its more violent sequences.
