Gremlins is a 1984 American
comedy horror film directed by
Joe Dante and released by
Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature called a
mogwai as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. This story was continued with a sequel,
Gremlins 2: The New Batch, released in 1990. Unlike the lighter sequel,
Gremlins opts for more
black comedy, balanced against a
Christmastime setting. Both films were the center of large
merchandising campaigns.