Trailer
Plot summary
In a Chinatown antique shop, inventor Randall Peltzer finds a mogwai, a small furry animal, and thinks it will suit his son Billy as a Christmas gift. The shop's owner refuses to sell, so the old man's grandson hands the animal over in secret, with three rules attached: never expose it to bright light, especially sunlight; never let it touch water; and never give it food after midnight. In Kingston Falls, Billy works at the local bank and worries that the widowed Ruby Deagle wants his dog Barney destroyed. The gift, which Billy names Gizmo, is calm and friendly. Then his friend Pete Fountaine spills water on Gizmo, and five more mogwai appear, among them the aggressive Stripe, whose tuft of white fur resembles a mohawk.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Gremlins (1984)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom were criticized for their violence, and Steven Spielberg suggested the MPAA revise its rating system, which created the PG-13 rating within two months of Gremlins' release.
- An early attempt to use real monkeys as gremlins was abandoned after the test monkey panicked when made to wear a gremlin head; puppets and marionettes were used instead, with the actors working alongside them.
- Chris Walas recommended making the mogwai larger to ease the special effects team's work, but Joe Dante kept them small for cuteness, so a scene was added in which the gremlins hang Gizmo on a wall and throw darts at him, taken from a crew list called "Horrible Things to do to Gizmo".
- In early drafts Gizmo himself was to become the gremlin Stripe, but Steven Spielberg overruled it, feeling Gizmo was cute and that audiences would want him present throughout the film.
- The first draft was much darker: cut scenes included Billy's mother being decapitated and her head thrown down the stairs, the gremlins eating Billy's dog, and gremlins attacking a McDonald's and eating customers instead of burgers.
SPOILER
Studio executives wanted Kate's speech, about her father breaking his neck coming down the family chimney dressed as Santa, cut because it was unclear whether it was funny or sad; Joe Dante refused and kept it in.- Steven Spielberg said that when Zach Galligan tested with Phoebe Cates, "he's in love with her already", and that was how Galligan won the part of Billy; Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe and Judd Nelson also auditioned.
- The Scottish post-rock band Mogwai is named after the film's creatures; guitarist Stuart Braithwaite said the name has no significant meaning. Welsh singer Rod Thomas performs as Bright Light Bright Light, a direct quote from the film.
