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ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - June 8th

"GREMLINS" released in 1984

A young boy inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town, Joe Dante's cult comedy horror, Gremlins!

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Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton), a struggling inventor, visits a Chinatown antique store in the hope to find a Christmas present for his son Billy (Zach Galligan). In the store, Randall encounters a small, furry creature called a mogwai (Cantonese for "monster"). The owner Mr. Wing (Keye Luke) refuses to sell the creature to Randall, though his grandson secretly sells the mogwai to Randall but tells him to remember three important rules that must never be broken – do not expose the mogwai to bright lights or sunlight which will kill it, do not let it get wet, and never feed it after midnight. Randall returns home to Kingston Falls where he gives the mogwai to Billy as a pet. Billy works in the local bank and fears his dog Barney will be put down by Mrs. Deagle. Randall names the mogwai “Gizmo” (voiced by Howie Mandel) and Billy makes sure to treat him well. But when Billy’s friend Pete (Corey Feldman) spills a glass of water over Gizmo, five more mogwai spawn from his back, a more troublemaking sort led by the aggressive Stripe (voiced by Frank Welker). Billy shows one of the mogwai to his former science teacher Mr. Hanson, spawning another mogwai, who Hanson experiments on. Stripe’s gang tricks Billy into feeding them after midnight by chewing out the power cord to his bedside clock and transform into cocoons, as does Hanson’s mogwai. Shortly after, their cocoons hatch and they emerge as mischievous, reptilian Gremlins that torture Gizmo and try to murder Billy’s mother, while Hanson is killed by his Gremlin. Billy eventually manages to kill of the Gremlins; except for Stripe, who escapes to a local YMCA and jumps into a swimming pool, spawning an army of Gremlins who wreak massive chaos around Kingston Falls! 

TRIVIA: Chris Walas suggested they use puppets instead of the proposed stop motion idea. As a compromise the studio suggested a spider monkey in a suit which was tested at Joe Dante's office, the animal went crazy, tearing the office apart and defecating everywhere. Dante screamed at the trainer to get the animal and then asked Walas, 'So puppets?' 

Top and Above:   Billy (Zach Galligan), Gizmo (voiced by Howie Mandel), and Kate (Phoebe Cates) must find a way to stop the army of Gremlins from destroying Kingston Falls.

To commemorate the release of Gremlins today, IHdb has included a special Behind the Scenes Featurette on the making of the movie. Includes interviews with director Joe Dante and executive producer Steven Speilberg, the featurette also features an in-depth look at the filming in Chinatown. Enjoy!

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE:   85%

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