Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante and released by Warner Bros.  Steven Spielberg was the film’s executive producer and the screenplay was written by Chris Columbus.

Don’t get him wet. Don’t expose him to bright lights. Never feed him after midnight. 

Randall Peltzer, a failing inventor, discovers a little, fuzzy creature called a Mogwai at a Chinatown antique store while looking for a unique Christmas present for his 21-year-old son. The owner refuses to sell the Mogwai, claiming that it is a huge responsibility to own one. The owner’s grandson, on the other hand, sells Randall the creature, stating that his family requires the funds.

For caring for Mogwai, there are three specific instructions: Never, ever expose it to bright light (particularly sunlight, which will kill it); never get it wet; and, most importantly, never, ever feed it after midnight, no matter how much it cries or begs.

He names the Mogwai “Gizmo”. A glass of water is accidentally spilled on Gizmo, causing him to convulse and produce five new Mogwai from his own body…

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8 Fun facts about Gremlins

(1) Howie Mandel from the America’s got Talent fame is the voice of Gizmo, the main Mogwai character.

(2) In Cantonese Chinese, mogwai means devil, demon or gremlin. The Mandarin pronunciation is mogui (魔鬼).

(5) On the Deagle Real Estate sign the hours of operation are only 10:30-11:15 Monday to Friday.

(6) In the bar scene, the video game the gremlin is playing is Star Wars.

(7) There are many connections to Spielberg’s other popular movie, E.T. One of the Gremlins says “phone home” during the movie, there is a stuffed E.T. displayed during one of the scenes, and one of the movies on the marquee is “A boy’s life” which is the fake name for E.T. (it was shipped to theaters under this name).

(8) Billy’s dog, whose real name is Mushroom, is also the featured pet in Pumpkinhead.

Gizmo’s song

The full bar scene from Gremlins