Traveling inventor and salesman Rand Peltzer (singer Hoyt Axton) buys an unusual Christmas present for his bank employee son Billy (Zach Galligan): a strange, never-before-seen animal called a "Mogwai", whom Rand christens "Gizmo". There are three *extremely* important rules to follow in order to take proper care of "Gizmo": don't expose him to light, don't expose him to water, and above all else, never feed him after midnight. As you might expect, rule two is broken soon enough, and "Gizmo" spawns a quintet of new Mogwai. Then rule three is broken (unknowingly) and the new Mogwai metamorphose into little green devils called "Gremlins" that proceed to tear the little town of Kingston Falls apart.<br /><br />After all this time - it's been a while since I saw it - I still get a kick out of it. Equal parts scary and funny, with memorable music score (and catchy central theme) by Jerry Goldsmith, and the little monsters are inventively realized by Chris Walas and his effects team. (The monsters range from being frightening to being absolutely hilarious.) The main problem for some viewers will undeniably be an approach that can be seen as mean-spirited and ugly. I can understand why some people wouldn't be able to stomach this film, particularly when Kate (Phoebe Cates) tells the story of why she doesn't celebrate Christmas.<br /><br />Overall, this nasty horror / comedy emerges as one of my favorite 1980's pictures. This was the first film I saw legendary cult actor Dick Miller (a favorite of director Joe Dante) in, and he's remained an entertaining actor to watch.<br /><br />Actors William Schallert and Kenneth Tobey appear uncredited.<br /><br />Howie Mandel is the voice of "Gizmo", and the ubiquitous Frank Welker is the voice of lead gremlin "Stripe". Michael Winslow, the vocal sound effects guy from the "Police Academy" movies, was also one of the vocal effects artists here.<br /><br />Some of you might want to keep in mind that the original draft of the screenplay was even darker, with horrible fates intended for Mrs. Peltzer and Barney the dog.<br /><br />Before I go, I want to say that writer turned director Chris Columbus's script does beg questions such as: If the wrong time to feed "Gizmo" is after midnight, when does the right time begin?<br /><br />8/10