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| Gremlins | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | Gremlins |
| Director: | Joe Dante |
| Writers: | Chris Columbus |
| Producers: | Steven Spielberg; Kathleen Kennedy; Frank Marshall; Michael Finnell |
| Composer: | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Cinematography: | John Hora |
| Editors: | Tina Hirsch |
| Production | |
| Distributed by: | Warner Bros.; Amblin Entertainment |
| Released: | June 8th, 1984 |
| Rating: | PG |
| Running time: | 106 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $11,000,000 |
| Gross: | $148,168,459 (US) |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | Gremlins 2: The New Batch |
Gremlins (1984) is an article about a feature film. This page is a stub. If you are reading this message, then that means you have come to a page about a film that is in need of additional work. There are certain key elements that are lacking from this article and thus preventing it from achieving an acceptable level of quality. This may include a high quality poster image, missing and/or incorrect actor or production crew members, missing cast lists, external links, notes and references, and so on. Once these elements have been satisfied, then this template may be removed from the page.
Plot[]
A man named Randy Peltzer is in China looking for a present for his son, William "Billy" Peltzer. A boy leads him to his grandfathers Mr. Wing's shop. There, Rand finds a little furry creature called a mogwai in a cage. He asks Mr. Wing for the creature, but he refuses, saying a mogwai is too much of a responsibility. However, because they are poor, the boy gives Rand the mogwai, saying his grandpa is crazy. However, he gives Rand three rules on taking care of the mogwai: don't expose it to light, especially sunlight as it kills the mogwai; two, don't get it wet; and three, don't feed it after midnight.
Billy Peltzer is a young man in Kingston Falls. He has a girlfriend named Kate and works at the same bank as she does. He hides his dog Barney under the desk as the cold Mrs. Ruby Deagle comes. Mrs. Deagle wants Barney put to sleep because he destroyed her plastic snowman. Barney, hearing this, instinctively attacks her, nearly getting him fired.
Later on, Rand comes home and presents the mogwai, which he names Gizmo, to Billy. After Gizmo is frightened of a flashing camera, Rand explains the three rules. Shortly after, a kid named Pete comes over to Billy's house and accidentally spills a glass of water onto Gizmo. Gizmo goes into convulsion and produces five new mogwai from his body, including Grumpy (named by fans), and Stripe, named for his white mohawk. These five mogwai are mean, unlike Gizmo, are mean and bully Gizmo. At night, Billy finds Barney tied up and assumes Mrs. Deagle did it, not knowing it was the new mogwai. Rand takes Barney away temporarily after the incident.
Billy takes one of the mogwai to the science teacher Mr. Roy Hansen, and drips a drop of water on it, causing it to produce a mogwai called Earl. Earl stays with Hansen, who produces tests on him, while Billy leaves. There, Stripe and the other mogwai get Billy to feed them chicken wings, while Gizmo declines. At the same time, Earl steals a sandwich and eats it.
The next day, Billy wakes up to find that the mogwai, except Gizmo, have turned into cocoons. Earl has gone into a cocoon as well in the science lab, which Hansen explains as pupae, and that the mogwai are changing in form and appearance.
At work, Billy is briefly accosted by Mrs. Deagle, who once again threatens to have Barney put down. At home, the cocoons hatch. Billy gets a call from Mr. Hansen, who says the cocoon has hatched. Billy goes there to find that Earl has hacked and killed Hansen by sticking a needle into his bottom (as revenge for Hansen taking blood tests on him as a mogwai). Billy is scratched by Earl and finally sees him inside a cupboard. Earl has now transformed into a gremlin, scaly creatures with claws, sharp teeth, and bat-like ears. Earl escapes and Billy rushes home, knowing the gremlins have hatched there as well.
The gremlins attack Gizmo and Stripe throws him down a laundry chute. Billy's mom, Lynn Peltzer, fights them and kills three, including Grumpy. As she is strangled by a remaining gremlin, Billy comes and decapitates the creature. As they watch the gremlins head burn in the fireplace, Stripe appears behind a curtain and crashes through the window.
Billy finds Gizmo and the two chase Stripe to the YMCA swimming pool. Stripe suddenly attacks them and jumps into the pool, causing him to spawn an army of gremlins. Billy runs off and tells the local sheriff Frank and his assistant Brent of the gremlins, but they don't believe him and think he's drunk, even after he shows them Gizmo. At the same time, Stripe leads the gremlins into the town.
Frank and Brent go off to see the Futtermans after a gremlin crashes into the house with there snowplow. Mrs. Deagle is launched out of the window by the gremlins in front of the sheriff, and they drive back to the station, only to crash into a truck when a gremlin disables the brakes. Billy and Gizmo drive to the local tavern where Kate works, to sea that Stripe and the other gremlins have broke into. Just as Kate is about to be shot at by a gremlin wearing a mask, Billy uses his car brakes to blind the gremlin and Kate escapes. They run as the gremlins rampage around town and attack. It is then that Kate reveals that the reason she hates Christmas is because Kate's father dies when she was a child on Christmas.
They find that the gremlins have all assembled in the movie theatre, watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They trigger an explosion that kills the gremlins, only to find that Stripe has left to eat candy. Billy chases Stripe into the store while Kate tries to find a light switch. Stripe attacks Billy with sawblades, a crossbow, and even fights him with a chainsaw before Kate fends Stripe away with the light. However, Stripe finds a fountain and a gun.
Gizmo, meanwhile, has found a toy car and drives around the store in search of Billy and Stripe, and Rand and Barney return and go to the store. Billy is shot at by Stripe and the gremlin dips his finger in the fountain. Suddenly, much to Stripe's surprise, Gizmo appears and uses a shovel as a ramp, flying through the air and crashing into a pile of plants. Stripe tries to shoot Gizmo, but Gizmo opens the blinds that exposes Stripe to sunlight, causing him to melt and his rotting body falls into the fountain. As Billy approaches the fountain, Stripe's skeleton jumps out at him before finally melting away.
Later, as the Peltzers recover from the attack, Mr. Wing comes and, hearing of the attack on TV, takes Gizmo away, telling Billy that he is not ready to take care of Gizmo, but also says that one day, he may be ready.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Hoyt Axton | Randall Peltzer |
| John Louie | Chinese boy |
| Keye Luke | Mister Wing |
| Don Steele | Rockin' Ricky Rialto |
| Susan Burgess | Little girl |
| Scott Brady | Sheriff Frank |
| Arnie Moore | Alex |
| Corey Feldman | Pete Fountaine |
| Harry Carey, Jr. | Mister Anderson |
| Zach Galligan | Billy Peltzer |
| Dick Miller | Murray Futterman |
| Phoebe Cates | Kate Beringer |
| Polly Holliday | Ruby Deagle |
| Donald Elson | Man on street |
| Belinda Balaski | Mrs. Joe Harris |
| Daniel Llewelyn | Hungry Harris child |
| Edward Andrews | Mister Corben |
| Judge Reinhold | Gerald Hopkins |
| Lois Foraker | Bank teller |
| Chuck Jones | Mister Jones |
| Kenny Davis | Dorry |
| Frances Lee McCain | Lynn Peltzer |
| Glynn Turman | Roy Hanson |
| Nicky Katt | School child |
| Tracy Wells | School child |
| John C. Becher | Doctor Molinaro |
| Gwen Wilson | Mrs. Molinaro |
| Jackie Joseph | Sheila Futterman |
| Jonathan Banks | Deputy Brent |
| Joe Brooks | Dave Meyers (Santa) |
| Jim McKrell | Lew Landers |
| Frank Welker | Stripe |
| Howie Mandel | Gizmo |
| Fred Newman | Mogwai/Gremlins (voice) |
| Mark Dodson | Mogwai/Gremlins (voice) |
| Michael Winslow | Mogwai/Gremlins (voice) |
| Peter Cullen | Mogwai/Gremlins (voice) |
| Bob Bergen | Mogwai/Gremlins (voice) |
| Michael Sheehan | Mogwai/Gremlins (voice) |
| Bob Holt | Mogwai/Gremlins (voice) |
| Mushroom | Barney the dog |
| Karen Bean | Girl in town square |
| Adam Bean | Boy in town square |
| Tom Bergeron | TV news reporter |
| Jerry Goldsmith | Man in telephone booth |
| Marvin Miller | Robby the Robot (voice) |
| William Schallert | Father Bartlett |
| Steven Spielberg | Man in electric wheelchair |
| Kenneth Tobey | Gas station attendant |
Notes & Trivia[]
- The tagline to this film is, "Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous".
- Body Count: 8
- Principal shooting on Gremlins began on April 27th, 1983 and concluded on August 3rd.
- Released in the UK on December 7th, 1984.
- Re-released in US theaters on August 30th, 1985.
- Final film work for actor Scott Brady. Brady passed away in 1985.
Recommendations[]
- Critters
- Gremlins 2: The New Batch
- Hobgoblins
- Munchies