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Pete is not Billy's little brother.
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* InfantilizationRetaliation: Gizmo gets water spilled on him, and promptly spawns several Gremlin eggs. While initially cute, they actually hatch into Mogwai, where the ominous music, Gizmo's pained screaming, and the malevolent gazes of the babies as they hatch lets the audience these new Gremlins are very different from Gizmo. Billy's little brother thinks they're cute, and reaches towards one while saying "Hi Cutie". It promptly snaps at his finger.
to:
* InfantilizationRetaliation: Gizmo gets water spilled on him, and promptly spawns several Gremlin eggs. While initially cute, they actually hatch into Mogwai, where the ominous music, Gizmo's pained screaming, and the malevolent gazes of the babies as they hatch lets the audience these new Gremlins are very different from Gizmo. Billy's little brother young friend Pete thinks they're cute, and reaches towards one while saying "Hi Cutie". It promptly snaps at his finger.
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None
Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Billy's biology teacher is the only black character in the film, and the gremlins' first victim. ''Possibly''; the movie walked back most other intended character deaths, so he may have only been heavily sedated in the finished film.
to:
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Billy's biology teacher is the only black character in the film, and the gremlins' first victim. ''Possibly''; the movie finished film walked back most other intended character deaths, so he may have only been injured and heavily sedated in the finished film.sedated.
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* RedEyesTakeWarning: All Gremlins have them. Although they don't normally glow, there's a very striking moment when Mrs. Peltzer slashes open Billy's Christmas stocking thinking there's another Gremlin hiding inside ([[CatScare which turns out to just be a motorized toy robot)]], only to find out a moment too late that a pair of red lights in the tree behind her are ''not'' part of the decoration.
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** So kicking out tenants that can't pay without providing them so much as a single day's extra time even if they beg for it (the woman flat-out says she and her husband ''have'' income and aren't broke, but just won't get paid within the allotted time) and treating them like absolute crap (and being such an absolute bitch that everybody in town knows it) is supposed to provide Mrs. Deagle with money, ''how''...?
to:
** So kicking out tenants that can't pay without providing them so much as a single day's extra time even if they beg for it (the woman flat-out says she and her husband ''have'' have income and aren't broke, on the way, but just won't get paid within the allotted time) and treating them like absolute crap (and being such an absolute bitch that everybody in town knows it) is supposed to provide Mrs. Deagle with money, ''how''...?
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Changed line(s) 30 (click to see context) from:
** So kicking out tenants that can't pay without providing them so much as a single day's extra time even if they beg for it and treating them like absolute crap (and being such an absolute bitch that everybody in town knows it) is supposed to provide Mrs. Deagle with money, ''how''...?
to:
** So kicking out tenants that can't pay without providing them so much as a single day's extra time even if they beg for it (the woman flat-out says she and her husband ''have'' income and aren't broke, but just won't get paid within the allotted time) and treating them like absolute crap (and being such an absolute bitch that everybody in town knows it) is supposed to provide Mrs. Deagle with money, ''how''...?
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None
Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Billy's biology teacher is the only black character in the film, and the gremlins' first victim.
to:
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Billy's biology teacher is the only black character in the film, and the gremlins' first victim. ''Possibly''; the movie walked back most other intended character deaths, so he may have only been heavily sedated in the finished film.
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* CreatorCameo: Steven Spielberg is seen at the inventors' convention, ridign a crazy-looking recumbent bike.
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* CreatorCameo: Steven Spielberg is seen at the inventors' convention, ridign riding a crazy-looking recumbent bike.
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Changed line(s) 121 (click to see context) from:
*** Speaking of which, the iconic Gremlin Rag was [[https://youtu.be/IEQa--ydUDE?t=98 recycled from the segment]] that was based on the episode ''Nightmare at 20,000 Feet''.
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*** Speaking of which, the iconic Gremlin Rag was [[https://youtu.be/IEQa--ydUDE?t=98 recycled from the segment]] that was based on a remake of the episode ''Nightmare at 20,000 Feet''.Feet''. Both the episode and the remake featured a gremlin, making it a clever nod to the story that popularized gremlins.
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added example(s)
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*** Speaking of which, the iconic Gremlin Rag was [[https://youtu.be/IEQa--ydUDE?t=98 recycled from the segment]] that was based on the episode ''Nightmare at 20,000 Feet''.
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* NotMeThisTime: Billy rightfully suspects Mrs. Deagle of abusing his dog Barney by stringing the poor thing up with a bunch of Christmas lights, since she had already made threats to do even worse. However, she's not responsible, it was Stripe and the other evil Mogwai.
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* AssholeVictim: Mrs. Deagle was SUCH a bitch, especially in the deleted scenes that reveal she was forcing people out of their homes to put down a strip mall, effectively destroying Kingston Falls. Even in the onscreen version, she is a heartless ice-bitch who casually evicts poor widows with children on Christmas Eve, and gleefully threatens to kill helpless little dogs by throwing them in the drying machine. There's actually a bit cut out of the scene leading up to her death, where she looks at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It was ''so'' good they had to cut it out because it made her too sympathetic.
to:
* AssholeVictim: Mrs. Deagle was SUCH a bitch, especially in the deleted scenes that reveal she was forcing people out of their homes to put down a strip mall, effectively destroying Kingston Falls. Even in the onscreen version, she is a heartless ice-bitch who shown casually evicts evicting a poor widows widow with her children on Christmas Eve, and gleefully threatens while also threatening to kill helpless little dogs the protagonist's dog by throwing them him in the drying machine. There's actually a bit cut out of the A deleted scene leading up to her death, where she looks which depicted her [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes looking wistfully at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It husband]], was ''so'' good they had to even cut it out because it made her look too sympathetic. sympathetic.
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* VagueAge: Billy and Kate. They both look like teenagers, and Billy still lives with his parents, but they both seem to be out of high school and already have full time jobs.
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Split trope
Changed line(s) 53 (click to see context) from:
* CreatorInJoke: The working titles for Creator/StevenSpielberg's movies ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'' and ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' were "Watch the Skies" and "A Boy's Life" respectively. Both were referenced as a CreatorInJoke in ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' (which Spielberg produced), as two movies reportedly showing in the town theater when Billy walks past it. Also, Rockin' Ricky Rialto's billboard is in the style of Indiana Jones from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.
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* CreatorInJoke: The working titles for Creator/StevenSpielberg's movies ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'' and ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' were "Watch the Skies" and "A Boy's Life" respectively. Both were referenced as a CreatorInJoke in ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' ''Film/{{Gremlins|1984}}'' (which Spielberg produced), as two movies reportedly showing in the town theater when Billy walks past it. Also, Rockin' Ricky Rialto's billboard is in the style of Indiana Jones from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.
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Crosswicking since trope launched today. Also applied this trope to Gremlins since that page has a lot of tropes that include Mogwai behavior.
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* InfantilizationRetaliation: Gizmo gets water spilled on him, and promptly spawns several Gremlin eggs. While initially cute, they actually hatch into Mogwai, where the ominous music, Gizmo's pained screaming, and the malevolent gazes of the babies as they hatch lets the audience these new Gremlins are very different from Gizmo. Billy's little brother thinks they're cute, and reaches towards one while saying "Hi Cutie". It promptly snaps at his finger.
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None
Changed line(s) 40 (click to see context) from:
* BittersweetEnding: The Gremlins have been defeated and everything is safe again, but Gizmo has to go back to Chinatown with Mr. Wing, who delivers a withering TheReasonYouSuck to the family for the chaos they unwittingly unleashed. However, seeing the bond Gizmo has developed with Billy, Mr. Wing acknowledges that Billy may one day be the one to take care of Gizmo.
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* BittersweetEnding: The Gremlins have gremlins are all dead, but Kingston Falls has been defeated absolutely ''trashed'' and everything is safe again, but Gizmo Billy has to go back return Gizmo to Chinatown with Mr. Wing, who delivers a withering TheReasonYouSuck to the family for the chaos they unwittingly unleashed. However, seeing the bond Gizmo has developed with Billy, Mr. Wing acknowledges that Billy may one day someday be the one ready to take care of Gizmo. him.
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* LandmarkDeclarationGambit: Discussed when Kate mentions a petition to declare Dorry's Tavern as a landmark to stop Ruby Deagle from tearing it down.
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* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The first film takes care not to mention where [[EverytownAmerica Kingston Falls]] is located or which "Chinatown" Rand visited. Most of it was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, using the same small town sets as ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture''. However, [[AllThereInTheManual according to the script]], Kingston Falls is located somewhere in Pennsylvania and the sequel establishes that Mr. Wing's shop is in New York City.
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* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The first film takes care not to mention where [[EverytownAmerica Kingston Falls]] is located or which "Chinatown" Rand visited. Most of it was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, backlot in Los Angeles, using the same small town sets as ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture''. However, [[AllThereInTheManual according to the script]], Kingston Falls is located somewhere in Pennsylvania and the sequel establishes that Mr. Wing's shop is in New York City.
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None
Changed line(s) 143 (click to see context) from:
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The first film takes care not to mention where [[EverytownAmerica Kingston Falls]] is located or which "Chinatown" Rand visited. Most of it was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, using the same small town sets as ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. However, [[AllThereInTheManual according to the script]], Kingston Falls is located somewhere in Pennsylvania and the sequel establishes that Mr. Wing's shop is in New York City.
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* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The first film takes care not to mention where [[EverytownAmerica Kingston Falls]] is located or which "Chinatown" Rand visited. Most of it was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, using the same small town sets as ''Film/BackToTheFuture''.''Franchise/BackToTheFuture''. However, [[AllThereInTheManual according to the script]], Kingston Falls is located somewhere in Pennsylvania and the sequel establishes that Mr. Wing's shop is in New York City.
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Changed line(s) 16,17 (click to see context) from:
Followed by the 1990 sequel, ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch''.
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Followed by the 1990 sequel, ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch''.
''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', and the 2023 animated prequel series, ''WesternAnimation/GremlinsSecretsOfTheMogwai''.
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''Gremlins'' is a 1984 dark HorrorComedy film directed by Creator/JoeDante, and executive produced by Creator/StevenSpielberg.
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''Gremlins'' is a 1984 dark HorrorComedy film directed by Creator/JoeDante, and executive produced by Creator/StevenSpielberg. \n It started the ''Franchise/{{Gremlins}}'' franchise.
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Changed line(s) 143 (click to see context) from:
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The first film takes care not to mention where [[EverytownAmerica Kingston Falls]] is located or which "Chinatown" Rand visited. Most of it was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, using the same small town sets as ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. However, the novelization and sequel establishes that Kingston Falls is located somewhere in Pennsylvania and Mr. Wing's shop is in New York City.
to:
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The first film takes care not to mention where [[EverytownAmerica Kingston Falls]] is located or which "Chinatown" Rand visited. Most of it was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, using the same small town sets as ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. However, [[AllThereInTheManual according to the novelization and sequel establishes that script]], Kingston Falls is located somewhere in Pennsylvania and the sequel establishes that Mr. Wing's shop is in New York City.
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None
Changed line(s) 143 (click to see context) from:
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The first film takes care not to mention where Kingston Falls is located or which "Chinatown" Rand visited. Most of it was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, using the same small town sets as ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. However, the novelization and sequel establishes that Kingston Falls is located somewhere in Pennsylvania and Mr. Wing's shop is in New York City.
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* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The first film takes care not to mention where [[EverytownAmerica Kingston Falls Falls]] is located or which "Chinatown" Rand visited. Most of it was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, using the same small town sets as ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. However, the novelization and sequel establishes that Kingston Falls is located somewhere in Pennsylvania and Mr. Wing's shop is in New York City.
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* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The first film takes care not to mention where Kingston Falls is located or which "Chinatown" Rand visited. Most of it was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, using the same small town sets as ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. However, the novelization and sequel establishes that Kingston Falls is located somewhere in Pennsylvania and Mr. Wing's shop is in New York City.
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Changed line(s) 155 (click to see context) from:
* AllThereInTheManual: The Novelization has a prologue that claims that [[spoiler:Mogwais were genetically engineered by an alien scientist called the Mogturmen as the perfect companion. However, the vast majority of Mogwais turned out to be dangerous, not to mention the unforeseen Gremlin problem. Gizmo is one of the few Mogwais to turn out right (labelled 'Eternals').]]
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* AllThereInTheManual: The Novelization has a prologue that claims that [[spoiler:Mogwais Mogwais were genetically engineered by an alien scientist called the Mogturmen as the perfect companion. However, the vast majority of Mogwais turned out to be dangerous, not to mention the unforeseen Gremlin problem. Gizmo is one of the few Mogwais to turn out right (labelled 'Eternals').]]
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Moved to Series Continuity Error.
Deleted line(s) 84,85 (click to see context) :
* NobodyCanDie: Sort of a SeriesContinuityError. In the first movie we see Mrs Deagle's body and a number of humans seem to die offscreen. But early in the second movie Kate mentions that fortunately nobody got killed.
** One wonders how the science teacher survived, plus the news report at the film's end ''explicitly'' confirms that Mrs. Deagle had indeed died and hadn't just been knocked out. Maybe Kate was lying.
** One wonders how the science teacher survived, plus the news report at the film's end ''explicitly'' confirms that Mrs. Deagle had indeed died and hadn't just been knocked out. Maybe Kate was lying.
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Darker And Edgier is for derivative works, it cannot be retroactively applied to the original. Lighter And Softer does fit.
Deleted line(s) 55,56 (click to see context) :
* DarkerAndEdgier: The first film is definitely this to the LighterAndSofter sequel, having a ton of frightening imagery, making the Gremlins nightmarish demons with a sense of humor that ranges from corny to twisted. Not to mention the death toll by the end of the film.
** And the original script compared to the first film. The script includes such scenes as the Mogwai eating Barney (before they turn into Gremlins), killing Billy's mom immediately after they turn (and throwing her dismembered head down the stairs just as Billy walks in the front door and thus landing at his feet...imagine that image welcoming you home as you walk unsuspectingly into your house), a UsefulNotes/McDonalds full of half-eaten burgers (by people) and half-eaten people (by Gremlins). Oh, and Gizmo turned into a Gremlin, indistinguishable from any of the others. Rumour suggests he might have even originally been in the place of Stripe as the leader of the Gremlin gang.
** And the original script compared to the first film. The script includes such scenes as the Mogwai eating Barney (before they turn into Gremlins), killing Billy's mom immediately after they turn (and throwing her dismembered head down the stairs just as Billy walks in the front door and thus landing at his feet...imagine that image welcoming you home as you walk unsuspectingly into your house), a UsefulNotes/McDonalds full of half-eaten burgers (by people) and half-eaten people (by Gremlins). Oh, and Gizmo turned into a Gremlin, indistinguishable from any of the others. Rumour suggests he might have even originally been in the place of Stripe as the leader of the Gremlin gang.
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* LighterAndSofter: At least, compared to the original script draft, where the gremlins usually killed and ate people in exceedingly horrific ways.
to:
* LighterAndSofter: At least, While the film contains some genuine scares, and is certainly a lot more serious than its DenserAndWackier sequel, it's toned down a lot compared to the original script draft, where the gremlins usually killed and ate people in exceedingly horrific ways.ways. It includes such scenes as the Mogwai eating Barney (before they turn into Gremlins), killing Billy's mom immediately after they turn (and throwing her dismembered head down the stairs just as Billy walks in the front door and thus landing at his feet...imagine that image welcoming you home as you walk unsuspectingly into your house), a UsefulNotes/McDonalds full of half-eaten burgers (by people) and half-eaten people (by Gremlins). Oh, and Gizmo turned into a Gremlin, indistinguishable from any of the others. Rumour suggests he might have even originally been in the place of Stripe as the leader of the Gremlin gang.
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Deleted line(s) 26 (click to see context) :
* AllThereInTheManual: The Novelization has a prologue that claims that [[spoiler:Mogwais were genetically engineered by an alien scientist called the Mogturmen as the perfect companion. However, the vast majority of Mogwais turned out to be dangerous, not to mention the unforeseen Gremlin problem. Gizmo is one of the few Mogwais to turn out right (labelled 'Eternals').]]
Changed line(s) 31,35 (click to see context) from:
** So kicking out tenants that can't pay without providing them so much as a single day's extra time even if they beg for it and treating them like absolute crap (and being such an absolute bitch that everybody in town knows it) is supposed to provide Mrs. Deagle with money, ''how''...? [[spoiler:No wonder AllThereInTheManual exposes that it's a deliberate part of a [[TheCon real estate scam]] (a mall in deleted scenes, a company that was going to use the land to ''dispose of toxic waste'' in the novelization).]]
* AssholeVictim:
** Mrs. Deagle was SUCH a bitch, especially in the deleted scenes that reveal she was forcing people out of their homes to put down a strip mall, effectively destroying Kingston Falls. Even in the onscreen version, she is a heartless ice-bitch who casually evicts poor widows with children on Christmas Eve, and gleefully threatens to kill helpless little dogs by throwing them in the drying machine. There's actually a bit cut out of the scene leading up to her death, where she looks at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It was ''so'' good they had to cut it out because it made her too sympathetic.
** In the novelization, she was selling their land to a chemical company (named "[[MeaningfulName Hitox]]" of all things), so one can assume she was going to turn the town into a toxic waste dump.
* AutomaticDoorMalfunction: The novelization mentions that the Gremlins messed with automatic doors in some stores by making them open normally but then slam shut with enough speed and force to injure people.
* AssholeVictim:
** Mrs. Deagle was SUCH a bitch, especially in the deleted scenes that reveal she was forcing people out of their homes to put down a strip mall, effectively destroying Kingston Falls. Even in the onscreen version, she is a heartless ice-bitch who casually evicts poor widows with children on Christmas Eve, and gleefully threatens to kill helpless little dogs by throwing them in the drying machine. There's actually a bit cut out of the scene leading up to her death, where she looks at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It was ''so'' good they had to cut it out because it made her too sympathetic.
** In the novelization, she was selling their land to a chemical company (named "[[MeaningfulName Hitox]]" of all things), so one can assume she was going to turn the town into a toxic waste dump.
* AutomaticDoorMalfunction: The novelization mentions that the Gremlins messed with automatic doors in some stores by making them open normally but then slam shut with enough speed and force to injure people.
to:
** So kicking out tenants that can't pay without providing them so much as a single day's extra time even if they beg for it and treating them like absolute crap (and being such an absolute bitch that everybody in town knows it) is supposed to provide Mrs. Deagle with money, ''how''...? [[spoiler:No wonder AllThereInTheManual exposes that it's a deliberate part of a [[TheCon real estate scam]] (a mall in deleted scenes, a company that was going to use the land to ''dispose of toxic waste'' in the novelization).]]
?
*AssholeVictim:
**AssholeVictim: Mrs. Deagle was SUCH a bitch, especially in the deleted scenes that reveal she was forcing people out of their homes to put down a strip mall, effectively destroying Kingston Falls. Even in the onscreen version, she is a heartless ice-bitch who casually evicts poor widows with children on Christmas Eve, and gleefully threatens to kill helpless little dogs by throwing them in the drying machine. There's actually a bit cut out of the scene leading up to her death, where she looks at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It was ''so'' good they had to cut it out because it made her too sympathetic. \n** In the novelization, she was selling their land to a chemical company (named "[[MeaningfulName Hitox]]" of all things), so one can assume she was going to turn the town into a toxic waste dump.\n* AutomaticDoorMalfunction: The novelization mentions that the Gremlins messed with automatic doors in some stores by making them open normally but then slam shut with enough speed and force to injure people.
*
**
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* ChekhovsGun: At the beginning of the movie, the first rule explains that Gizmo's species hates bright lights and that sunlight in particular is lethal to them. At first, this just seemed like a necessary rule to care for Gizmo, but it ends up being the most important weapon in the fight against the gremlins, the former part allowing them to drive them off while Gizmo ends up using the latter half to destroy the gremlin leader.
to:
* ChekhovsGun: ChekhovsGun:
** At the beginning of the movie, the first rule explains that Gizmo's species hates bright lights and that sunlight in particular is lethal to them. At first, this just seemed like a necessary rule to care for Gizmo, but it ends up being the most important weapon in the fight against the gremlins, the former part allowing them to drive them off while Gizmo ends up using the latter half to destroy the gremlin leader.
** At the beginning of the movie, the first rule explains that Gizmo's species hates bright lights and that sunlight in particular is lethal to them. At first, this just seemed like a necessary rule to care for Gizmo, but it ends up being the most important weapon in the fight against the gremlins, the former part allowing them to drive them off while Gizmo ends up using the latter half to destroy the gremlin leader.
Deleted line(s) 64 (click to see context) :
** The novelization, based on an earlier draft of the script, reveals this to be a last second addition. They're explicitly stated to have died in that version.
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** Mr. Wing's Grandson is never seen again in the movie or mentioned in the sequel. The novelization however explains that he was severely punished by his grandfather for the back alley sale of Gizmo.
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** Mr. Wing's Grandson is never seen again in the movie or mentioned in the sequel. The novelization however explains that he was severely punished by his grandfather for the back alley sale of Gizmo.
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!!Tropes exclusive to the novelization:
* AdaptationalKarma: The novelization explains that Mr. Wing's Grandson was severely punished by his grandfather for the back alley sale of Gizmo.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the novelization, Mrs. Deagle was selling the evicted tenants' land to a chemical company (named "[[MeaningfulName Hitox]]" of all things), so one can assume she was going to turn the town into a toxic waste dump.
* AllThereInTheManual: The Novelization has a prologue that claims that [[spoiler:Mogwais were genetically engineered by an alien scientist called the Mogturmen as the perfect companion. However, the vast majority of Mogwais turned out to be dangerous, not to mention the unforeseen Gremlin problem. Gizmo is one of the few Mogwais to turn out right (labelled 'Eternals').]]
* AutomaticDoorMalfunction: The novelization mentions that the Gremlins messed with automatic doors in some stores by making them open normally but then slam shut with enough speed and force to injure people.
* DeathByAdaptation: The novelization, based on an earlier draft of the script, reveals the survival of the Futtermans to be a last second addition in the film. They're explicitly stated to have died in the book.
* TheCon: Mrs. Deagle evicting tenants is revealed to be a deliberate part of a real estate scam (a mall in deleted scenes, a company that was going to use the land to ''dispose of toxic waste'' in the novelization).
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Changed line(s) 32 (click to see context) from:
* AssholeVictim: Mrs. Deagle was SUCH a bitch, especially in the deleted scenes that reveal she was forcing people out of their homes to put down a strip mall, effectively destroying Kingston Falls.
to:
* AssholeVictim: AssholeVictim:
** Mrs. Deagle was SUCH a bitch, especially in the deleted scenes that reveal she was forcing people out of their homes to put down a strip mall, effectively destroying Kingston Falls. Even in the onscreen version, she is a heartless ice-bitch who casually evicts poor widows with children on Christmas Eve, and gleefully threatens to kill helpless little dogs by throwing them in the drying machine. There's actually a bit cut out of the scene leading up to her death, where she looks at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It was ''so'' good they had to cut it out because it made her too sympathetic.
** Mrs. Deagle was SUCH a bitch, especially in the deleted scenes that reveal she was forcing people out of their homes to put down a strip mall, effectively destroying Kingston Falls. Even in the onscreen version, she is a heartless ice-bitch who casually evicts poor widows with children on Christmas Eve, and gleefully threatens to kill helpless little dogs by throwing them in the drying machine. There's actually a bit cut out of the scene leading up to her death, where she looks at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It was ''so'' good they had to cut it out because it made her too sympathetic.
Deleted line(s) 34,37 (click to see context) :
** Even in the onscreen version, she is a heartless ice-bitch who casually evicts poor widows with children on Christmas Eve, and gleefully threatens to kill helpless little dogs by throwing them in the drying machine.
*** Almost {{Lampshaded}} herself after seeing the Gremlins for the first time, convinced "they're" coming for her. Her [[VillainousBreakdown breakdown]] into delusional sobbing before she activates her tampered stairlift and her own demise [[strike: almost makes you feel sorry for her]] makes you cheer as she ''literally'' flies down to Hell where she belongs (the Latin American translation even adds "to go to Hell" to the line below).
--->'''Mrs. Deagle:''' I'm not ready!!!
** There's actually a bit cut out of the scene leading up to her death, where she looks at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It was ''so'' good they had to cut it out because it made her too sympathetic. And this ''after'' she's threatened to put a friendly, cute dog into a spin dryer on high heat!
*** Almost {{Lampshaded}} herself after seeing the Gremlins for the first time, convinced "they're" coming for her. Her [[VillainousBreakdown breakdown]] into delusional sobbing before she activates her tampered stairlift and her own demise [[strike: almost makes you feel sorry for her]] makes you cheer as she ''literally'' flies down to Hell where she belongs (the Latin American translation even adds "to go to Hell" to the line below).
--->'''Mrs. Deagle:''' I'm not ready!!!
** There's actually a bit cut out of the scene leading up to her death, where she looks at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It was ''so'' good they had to cut it out because it made her too sympathetic. And this ''after'' she's threatened to put a friendly, cute dog into a spin dryer on high heat!
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* KarmicNod: Upon seeing the Gremlins for the first time, [[AssholeVictim Mrs. Deagle]] is convinced "they're" coming for her. Her [[VillainousBreakdown breakdown]] into delusional sobbing before she activates her tampered stairlift and her own demise [[strike: almost makes you feel sorry for her]] makes you cheer as she ''literally'' flies down to Hell where she belongs (the Latin American translation even adds "to go to Hell" to the line below).
-->'''Mrs. Deagle:''' I'm not ready!!!
-->'''Mrs. Deagle:''' I'm not ready!!!
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* SchmuckBait: "And the most important rule of all, the one you must never forget: no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never, EVER feed him after midnight."
** Subverted. Billy takes this rule seriously, even though he doesn't know what exactly is going to happen, and honestly intends to follow it. The evil Mogwai had to trick him into breaking it. [[spoiler:To be specific, he thought it was safe to feed them as it wasn't midnight yet. His clock had been tampered with.]]
** Subverted. Billy takes this rule seriously, even though he doesn't know what exactly is going to happen, and honestly intends to follow it. The evil Mogwai had to trick him into breaking it. [[spoiler:To be specific, he thought it was safe to feed them as it wasn't midnight yet. His clock had been tampered with.]]
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* AllThereInTheManual: The Novelization has a prologue that claims that [[spoiler:Mogwais were genetically engineered by an alien scientist called the Mogturmen as the perfect companion. However, the vast majority of Mogwais turned out to be dangerous, not to mention the unforeseen Gremlin problem. Gizmo is one of the few Mogwais to turn out right (labelled 'Eternals').]]
* ClockTampering: One of the rules for handling mogwai is to never NEVER feed them after midnight (as it turns out, it turns them into gremlins). One night the mogwai in the box are making noises like they are hungry. The alarm clock says it's about 11:30, so Billy feeds them some leftover chicken. The next day, [[StoppedClock Billy notices the clock reading the exact same time]]. Seems the extension cord had been ripped from the plug, the mogwai actually chewed through the electrical cord, [[OhCrap so it was after midnight]] after all.
* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: To the point that the graphic content of the first movie (along with [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom another Spielberg production]]) was used as an indication that a rating between PG and R was necessary.
* GreenAesop: After the mayhem in the first film, the Chinese shopkeeper returns to collect Gizmo, berating the Peltzers all the while. "You have done with mogwai what your society has done with all of nature's gift!" Definitely shoe-horned on, considering the causes for the mayhem was an innocent accident with water, followed by the mogwai tricking Billy into feeding them after midnight.
* GripingAboutGremlins: For anyone who lived long enough to gripe about them, at least. The film features a monologue by Mr. Futterman about the typical Gremlin legend, which Billy later latches on to as a handy name for the critters. They do embody some elements of the mythical gremlins, notably being very adept with technology, usually to the detriment of human beings.
* GripingAboutGremlins: For anyone who lived long enough to gripe about them, at least. The film features a monologue by Mr. Futterman about the typical Gremlin legend, which Billy later latches on to as a handy name for the critters. They do embody some elements of the mythical gremlins, notably being very adept with technology, usually to the detriment of human beings.
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* LighterAndSofter: At least, compared to the original script draft.
to:
* LighterAndSofter: At least, compared to the original script draft.draft, where the gremlins usually killed and ate people in exceedingly horrific ways.
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* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Billy is trying to convince the local sheriff that thousands of vicious little monsters spawned from his one tiny, fuzzy friend are terrorizing the town. He starts off acknowledging how insane he sounds and trying to be reasonable, but considering the damage the Gremlins can cause, that doesn't last long.
-->'''Billy''': Sheriff! Sheriff, ''will you listen to me?''\\
'''Sheriff''': '''You listen to me, kid!''' Go on home, take little Gizmo there, sit by the fireplace, and open your Christmas presents, huh? Attaboy.
-->'''Billy''': Sheriff! Sheriff, ''will you listen to me?''\\
'''Sheriff''': '''You listen to me, kid!''' Go on home, take little Gizmo there, sit by the fireplace, and open your Christmas presents, huh? Attaboy.
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gremlins_ver1.png]]
->''"So if your air conditioner goes on the fritz, or your washing machine blows up, or your video recorder conks out, before you call the repairman, turn on all the lights, check all the closets and cupboards, look under all the beds, 'cause you never can tell. There just might be a gremlin in your house."''
-->-- '''Rand Peltzer'''
''Gremlins'' is a 1984 dark HorrorComedy film directed by Creator/JoeDante, and executive produced by Creator/StevenSpielberg.
Inventor Randall Peltzer stops by Chinatown in New York City to pick up a gift for his son, Billy. He ends up getting a mysterious, yet undeniably adorable, critter called a ''mogwai''. The creature comes [[SchmuckBait with instructions]], though:
* [[WeakenedByTheLight Don't let it near bright light.]]
* [[ExplosiveBreeder Don't get it wet.]]
* [[WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve Don't feed it after midnight.]]
The creature, named Gizmo, is gentle and well-behaved, but after he accidentally gets splashed with water, more ''mogwai'' suddenly form, and this new, mean-spirited batch tricks Billy into feeding them after midnight. They all form cocoons, and then turn into ugly, frightening gremlins, who [[HilarityEnsues gleefully cause havoc and terrorize the town]].
Followed by the 1990 sequel, ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch''.
This movie, along with ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'', is the reason why the PG-13 rating was created in the U.S. (and the 12 rating in the U.K.).
----
!!This film provides examples of:
* ActionMom: Mrs. Peltzer turns unexpectedly and brilliantly badass when she kills three (pre-gremlin army) gremlins in one scene alone. Her weapons of choice: Blender, kitchen knife, and ''microwave''.
-->'''Mrs Peltzer''': Get out of my kitchen!!
* AnAssKickingChristmas: It falls under this when the town is invaded by monsters on Christmas Eve.
* AloneWithThePsycho: After seeing the gremlin that had attacked Mr. Hanson, Billy immediately knew that his mother was in danger and quickly raced back home. Subverted by his mother [[ActionMom turning the tables]] and taking three of them out herself.
* AndYourLittleDogToo: Mrs. Deagle's EstablishingCharacterMoment involves her showcasing herself as a very vile woman in many ways, mentioning that she hates the Peltzers and culminating with threatening to kill Billy's dog in the most grisly way she can think of in retribution for it accidentally destroying her property.
* ArtisticLicenseEconomics:
** As soon as Randall Peltzer finds out that Gizmo reproduced upon getting wet, he thinks that selling mogwai could be his big break. Yeeeeeeeeah... because a species that [[ExplosiveBreeder reproduces]] when exposed to a little water [[SarcasmMode is sure going to stay in demand for awhile.]]. JustifiedTrope -- Rand's frequently shown to be absolutely terrible with money, to the point Billy's the breadwinner for the household.
** So kicking out tenants that can't pay without providing them so much as a single day's extra time even if they beg for it and treating them like absolute crap (and being such an absolute bitch that everybody in town knows it) is supposed to provide Mrs. Deagle with money, ''how''...? [[spoiler:No wonder AllThereInTheManual exposes that it's a deliberate part of a [[TheCon real estate scam]] (a mall in deleted scenes, a company that was going to use the land to ''dispose of toxic waste'' in the novelization).]]
* AssholeVictim: Mrs. Deagle was SUCH a bitch, especially in the deleted scenes that reveal she was forcing people out of their homes to put down a strip mall, effectively destroying Kingston Falls.
** In the novelization, she was selling their land to a chemical company (named "[[MeaningfulName Hitox]]" of all things), so one can assume she was going to turn the town into a toxic waste dump.
** Even in the onscreen version, she is a heartless ice-bitch who casually evicts poor widows with children on Christmas Eve, and gleefully threatens to kill helpless little dogs by throwing them in the drying machine.
*** Almost {{Lampshaded}} herself after seeing the Gremlins for the first time, convinced "they're" coming for her. Her [[VillainousBreakdown breakdown]] into delusional sobbing before she activates her tampered stairlift and her own demise [[strike: almost makes you feel sorry for her]] makes you cheer as she ''literally'' flies down to Hell where she belongs (the Latin American translation even adds "to go to Hell" to the line below).
--->'''Mrs. Deagle:''' I'm not ready!!!
** There's actually a bit cut out of the scene leading up to her death, where she looks at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It was ''so'' good they had to cut it out because it made her too sympathetic. And this ''after'' she's threatened to put a friendly, cute dog into a spin dryer on high heat!
* AutomaticDoorMalfunction: The novelization mentions that the Gremlins messed with automatic doors in some stores by making them open normally but then slam shut with enough speed and force to injure people.
* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals:
** On top of telling a woman and her children that she will not allow them so much as a day's extension in their delayed payment and she will have them kicked out of their home on Christmas Eve, Mrs. Deagle establishes she is a complete monster by threatening to snatch Billy's dog and toss the poor thing in her drier in revenge for the dog accidentally smashing her porcelain snowman (Billy offers to pay her back and she insists she will not accept anything less than the dog's life as retribution).
** The Gremlins' extra-vicious leader Stripe isn't any better, even when he's still a fuzzy little Mogwai. One of the early amber flags (if not ''red'' flags) about the new Mogwai's true nature is that in the night, Stripe has Billy's dog strung up on the porch with Christmas lights and left hanging outside in the frigid winter air. The Peltzers don't piece together that it was the cloned Mogwai who were responsible, but to the viewer, it's clear.
* BigBad: Stripe, the first mogwai/gremlin born when Gizmo got wet, and the leader of the gremlins. He proves to be a much more dangerous threat than the other Gremlins, nearly killing Billy at several points.
* BigDamnHeroes:
** Billy manages to decapitate a Gremlin choking his mother.
** Gizmo [[spoiler:exposes Stripe to sunlight at the end, just as the gremlin is about to shoot Billy and [[HereWeGoAgain produce a new army of gremlins]].]]
* BigNo: Gizmo lets out one when he sees Stripe is about to jump into a pool.
* BittersweetEnding: The Gremlins have been defeated and everything is safe again, but Gizmo has to go back to Chinatown with Mr. Wing, who delivers a withering TheReasonYouSuck to the family for the chaos they unwittingly unleashed. However, seeing the bond Gizmo has developed with Billy, Mr. Wing acknowledges that Billy may one day be the one to take care of Gizmo.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Billy's biology teacher is the only black character in the film, and the gremlins' first victim.
* BunglingInventor: Randall Peltzer's inventions are nothing but disasters that leave tremendous messes behind and it's implied Billy is the primary bread-winner of the family because of this. He still insists in trying to make money out of them, even thinking it would be a good GetRichQuickScheme to try to exploit the mogwais' ability to make more of them by making them wet (even if it's obvious that such a thing would make demand run out real quick, let alone the "newborns are evil" thing).
* TheCameo: Creator/ChuckJones is the man who compliments Billy's drawing skills at the bar early in the film. Jim [=McKrell=] (host and announcer of a few game shows, most notably ''Celebrity Sweepstakes'') and a young [[Series/TheHollywoodSquares Tom]] [[Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos Bergeron]] (then a personality at WBZ-TV 4 in Boston) make appearances as TV news reporters.
* CaptainErsatz: Mrs. Deagle looks and acts a lot like [[Film/TheWizardOfOz The Wicked Witch of the West]] and her human counterpart Miss Gulch, right down to threatening the main character's dog.
* CheatersNeverProsper: Stripe instantly shoots another Gremlin for trying to sneak extra cards into their poker game.
* ChekhovsGun: At the beginning of the movie, the first rule explains that Gizmo's species hates bright lights and that sunlight in particular is lethal to them. At first, this just seemed like a necessary rule to care for Gizmo, but it ends up being the most important weapon in the fight against the gremlins, the former part allowing them to drive them off while Gizmo ends up using the latter half to destroy the gremlin leader.
** The ornamental swords hanging next to the door (and which keep falling off every time someone comes into the house) are actually pretty deadly when put to good use.
* ChimneyEntry: Kate's father tried to surprise his family this way one Christmas. Unfortunately, he broke his neck and died in the process.
* CookedToDeath: Billy's mom is attacked in the kitchen by the initial batch of title monsters. She tosses one into a mixer and backs another one into a microwave, which she then activates.
* CrazyCatLady: Mrs. Deagle again. She is shown to adore her numerous cats and nurture them in a disturbingly affectionate manner. Not that the heartless old hag showed '''any''' of the same kindness to ''children'' who can be made homeless by one word from her, mind you. The fact that the cats are all named after various pieces of currency from around the world plainly shows [[OnlyInItForTheMoney what she REALLY cares about]].
* CreatorInJoke: The working titles for Creator/StevenSpielberg's movies ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'' and ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' were "Watch the Skies" and "A Boy's Life" respectively. Both were referenced as a CreatorInJoke in ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' (which Spielberg produced), as two movies reportedly showing in the town theater when Billy walks past it. Also, Rockin' Ricky Rialto's billboard is in the style of Indiana Jones from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.
* CreatorCameo: Steven Spielberg is seen at the inventors' convention, ridign a crazy-looking recumbent bike.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The first film is definitely this to the LighterAndSofter sequel, having a ton of frightening imagery, making the Gremlins nightmarish demons with a sense of humor that ranges from corny to twisted. Not to mention the death toll by the end of the film.
** And the original script compared to the first film. The script includes such scenes as the Mogwai eating Barney (before they turn into Gremlins), killing Billy's mom immediately after they turn (and throwing her dismembered head down the stairs just as Billy walks in the front door and thus landing at his feet...imagine that image welcoming you home as you walk unsuspectingly into your house), a UsefulNotes/McDonalds full of half-eaten burgers (by people) and half-eaten people (by Gremlins). Oh, and Gizmo turned into a Gremlin, indistinguishable from any of the others. Rumour suggests he might have even originally been in the place of Stripe as the leader of the Gremlin gang.
* DartboardOfHate: Poor Gizmo is himself strapped to the dartboard not long after the Gremlins emerge from their cocoons, who then proceed to chuck darts at him, showing how much their contempt for him has grown. The scene serves as a meta one for the filmmakers as well, who made it to express their own frustration in how difficult it was to make the small Gizmo puppet work alongside the much larger gremlins.
* DeadlineNews: Subverted with "Rockin' Ricky" Rialto's radio broadcast. We hear him believing the radio listeners calling to denounce the gremlin-caused chaos are pranking him and then his desperate screaming as the Gremlins attack him before the transmission cuts off but he comes back a few scenes later having apparently fought them off by himself.
* DestinationDefenestration: This is how Mrs. Deagle meets her end, courtesy of the Gremlins.
* DisneyDeath: It appears that the Futtermans are crushed and killed by a snowplow-driving gremlin, but at the very end of the movie we hear a news reporter mentioning that he'd just spoken with the lovable old couple, who are still alive and well. Viewers who missed that often mistake their reappearance in the sequel as an UnexplainedRecovery (although how they survived the encounter isn't shown, either).
** The novelization, based on an earlier draft of the script, reveals this to be a last second addition. They're explicitly stated to have died in that version.
* DrowningMySorrows: Mr. Futterman is put out of a job, and then finds out his beloved Kentucky Harvester has foreign-made parts in it.
* EatsBabies: In the original script, a scene was planned where Billy and Kate would have come across a UsefulNotes/McDonalds full of partially devoured people, including ''many'' empty baby strollers and a gremlin so bloated from its feast that it had been abandoned by its fellows.
* FromBadToWorse: After four of the original gremlins are wiped out[[note]]the whereabouts of Earl, the gremlin from school, being unknown[[/note]], Stripe, the last one remaining, flees. Billy and Gizmo track him down to the Y.M.C.A...where he jumps into a pool.
* GamblingBrawl: A group of Gremlins are playing poker in the bar when one of them tries to cheat. Stripe pulls out a gun and shoots the other Gremlin dead on the spot, which causes the rest of his ilk to [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor burst into laughter]].
* GetRichQuickScheme: One of these is what makes the whole mess happen -- Mr. Wing's grandson sells Gizmo to Randall Peltzer because the store's location (and Mr. Wing's persnickety nature) have turned it into a money pit. It's also showcased that Peltzer's inventions are this and thus Billy is the primary breadwinner of the family. When he sees the way Mogwai reproduce, Randall briefly entertains the thought of selling the Mogwai as "the Peltzer Pet" (not thinking of how quickly demand will run out if all it takes to make more of them is any amount of water, and not knowing that all Mogwai but Gizmo are very vicious even before turning into Gremlins).
* GiftShake: Billy starts to do this with his present, but is quickly stopped by his father since the box contains Gizmo.
* GrossUpCloseUp: The shots of the mogwai sloppily devouring the fried chicken Billy gives them.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Rockin' Ricky manages to survive a Gremlin assault on his radio station, and is back on the air at the end of the movie. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it line from his survival broadcast, he mentions Marines have arrived to keep the creatures away from his station. [[FromBadToWorse Armed with fire hoses.]]
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: All of the events happen during Christmas Eve.
* JerkAss: Gerald qualifies although he does seem to have some kind of liking for Billy. He doesn't so much put Billy down as to question why he isn't doing more with his life, even if he's not terribly nice about it.
* KickTheDog: In the DarkerAndEdgier original script, the gremlins killed the Peltzers' pet dog, and Billy would have returned home to see his mother's head roll down the stairs. In the final version they just dangle Barney up with Christmas lights, and the mother survives with minor injuries.
* KillItWithFire: Finding that the gremlins have gathered in a movie theater, Billy and Kate set off a gas explosion in the hopes of wiping them all out. It works, but Stripe survives because he had left the theater to get some candy from a nearby store.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: A [[ShowWithinAShow Movie Within a Movie]] version when Billy and Gizmo are watching ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1956''. Miles Benell's mad rant at the end of the film regarding the pod people could be seen like it was aimed at Billy and Gizmo, [[{{Foreshadowing}} warning them about the gremlins]].
* LeitmotifUponDeath: [[spoiler:A rendition of The Gremlin Rag, the gremlins' leitmotif, plays when Stripe, their leader, melts in the sunlight.]]
* LighterAndSofter: At least, compared to the original script draft.
* TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday: Mr. Wing's shop is in a basement deep in Chinatown and his own grandson mentions that clientele doesn't arrive very often as a result.
* MicrowaveMisuse: One of the eponymous monsters is killed in the microwave; going pop in a very spectacular fashion.
* MyCarHatesMe: Played with. In the beginning, Billy's car refuses to start, forcing him to walk to work. In the middle of the Gremlin attack, it actually starts for him. But later, when he tries to drive it again, it won't start. This might actually have some Fridge Brilliance behind it.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Billy unwittingly feeding the mogwai after midnight, though that can be forgiven as they had to trick him into doing it. Also implied near the end of the film where Rockin' Ricky can be overheard on the radio saying that the marines are planning to spray down the Gremlins with firehoses, though the main characters manage to stop them before that ever happens.
* NightmareFace: The sight of the gremlin laughing evilly up close facing you after the deputy's car crashes is enough to give ''anyone'' a nightmare. Yeah, good luck trying to sleep after seeing this.
* NobodyCanDie: Sort of a SeriesContinuityError. In the first movie we see Mrs Deagle's body and a number of humans seem to die offscreen. But early in the second movie Kate mentions that fortunately nobody got killed.
** One wonders how the science teacher survived, plus the news report at the film's end ''explicitly'' confirms that Mrs. Deagle had indeed died and hadn't just been knocked out. Maybe Kate was lying.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Possibly with Rockin' Ricky Rialto. The gremlins attack him while he's on the air, but he later comes back to the airwaves, apparently none the worse for wear. This could imply that he managed to defeat whatever gremlins attacked the radio station, although the gremlins may also have simply broken off their attack to go to the movie theater with the others.
* OffWithHisHead:
** In the DarkerAndEdgier original script, Billy returned home to see his mother's head rolling down the stairs.
** In the film itself, Billy decapitates a gremlin with a sword and kicks the severed head in the fireplace, and it screams as it's on fire.
* OhCrap:
** Billy's reaction after the last gremlin, Stripe, jumps into a public swimming pool. Gremlin Army ensues.
** When he's lying on the ground gasping in pain from Stripe shooting a crossbow bolt into his arm, and then he hears [[FromBadToWorse the sound of an electric chainsaw whirring to life]].
** The Gremlin choking Billy's mom, just before Billy chops his head off. "Uh-oh."
** Really, one after another after another as soon as the Gremlins hatch:
*** Billy when he gets the phone call from Mr. Hanson saying that "It just hatched."
*** Again when he finds Mr. Hanson's dead body.
*** Billy's mom when she hears the Gremlins upstairs, then goes up to Billy's room and sees the hatched cocoons.
*** Billy calling his mom to warn her that "They've hatched, get out of the house!"
*** Billy ''and'' his mom as the phone call gets cut off, then "Do You Hear What I Hear" starts playing downstairs.
*** Finally, Billy's Mom when she sees the Gremlin eating one of her gingerbread men.
** Stripe freaks out when he realizes that Kate has found a way to repel his Gremlins with a camera flash.
* OutOfFocus: Mrs. Peltzer has one ActionMom scene and then disappears for most of the movie. Possibly because in the original script the gremlins killed her.
* ParentsAsPeople: Billy's handling of Gizmo in his defense is pretty responsible, the two bond very closely, and he does ''try'' to follow the rules for caring for the Mogwai. Unfortunately, he never anticipates ''other'' forces breaking the rules instead, like his friend clumsily spilling water on Gizmo, or the resulting Mogwai intentionally sabotaging his clock so he will feed them after midnight. Mr Wing at least seems to acknowledge Billy's efforts in the end, noting he might be ready "one day".
* PoliceAreUseless: Joe Dante probably defines this trope best in the commentary track: "Whenever you have a sci-fi film, and police, you always have to have a scene with the police, and it's always the same scene." Which ends with the police, still not believing Billy despite seeing Gizmo with their own eyes, leaving to investigate the Futterman's "freak accident" with the snowplow, seeing Mrs. Deagle and a guy playing Santa getting attacked by Gremlins, then getting their brake lines cut and presumably dying in the ensuing car crash.
* ProperlyParanoid: Mr. Futterman's crazy drunk talk about gremlins had some truth to it. During the climax, Billy even says that he was right.
* PupatingPeril: It's eventually discovered that Mogwai who are allowed to eat after midnight end up encased in creepy, Giger-esque cocoons as they begin metamorphosing into Gremlins. This is played for much ominousness when Billy discovers that five of his six Mogwai are now cocoons clustered around his bed; it eventually results in an especially nightmarish moment in which the newly-metamorphosed Gremlins begin clawing their way out of their cocoons while a terrified Gizmo tries to hide.
* SchmuckBait: "And the most important rule of all, the one you must never forget: no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never, EVER feed him after midnight."
** Subverted. Billy takes this rule seriously, even though he doesn't know what exactly is going to happen, and honestly intends to follow it. The evil Mogwai had to trick him into breaking it. [[spoiler:To be specific, he thought it was safe to feed them as it wasn't midnight yet. His clock had been tampered with.]]
* ShirtlessScene: Billy gets one after his [[BunglingInventor father]]'s orange juicer explodes on him, forcing him to change shirts.
* ShoutOut:
** "Hi, [[Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau Doctor Moreau]]."
*** Notably, this isn't the neighbor Billy takes his injured mother to after the Gremlins first hatch (that's Dr. Mollinaro). This is someone Billy sees as he's running down the street to get to work at the bank. Apparently, Dr. Moreau works at the animal clinic...
** When Billy is hunting down Stripe in the department store, he walks past a row of plush dolls. Not only is Stripe hiding amongst them (a direct reference to ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'') he pushes away an ''actual'' doll of E.T. while poking his head out.
*** Another E.T reference comes when one of the gremlins says "Phone home"...right before [[CutPhoneLines ripping out the phone line and disconnecting Billy's call with his mother]].
*** One of the theaters is showing ''A Boy's Life'', which was the working title of ''E.T.'', and ''Watch The Skies'', the working title of ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind''.
** [[Film/ForbiddenPlanet Robbie the Robot]] and Film/TheTimeMachine1960 appear (or disappear, in the latter's case) in the inventor convention attended by Mr. Peltzer.
** At Dory's when talking with Billy Gerald orders a martini shaken not stirred.
** Rockin' Ricky Rialto's billboard is a reference to ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', complete with Rialto's name in the same font as the ''Raiders'' poster and Rialto's likeness dressed as Indiana Jones.
** Mr. Wing's son is dressed like [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom Short Round]].
** The gremlin cocoons bear a resemblance to the eggs from ''Film/{{Alien}}''.
** In Billy's bedroom you can see a ''Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie'' title marquee in the background. The film featured a segment Joe Dante himself directed: A radically different remake of the episode ''It's A Good Life''.
** Billy mentions he got a comic book from "Dr. Fantasy's". Dr. Fantasy is the nickname of movie producer Frank Marshall, a regular collaborator with Spielberg.
** One of the gremlins in the bar is doing the dance from ''Film/FlashDance''. Michael Sembello, who did the song "Gremlins...Mega Madness" for this movie, also did the famous "Maniac" song.
* SoftGlass: The Gremlins (mostly Stripe) have no problem breaking through windows seemingly by just running through them. Possibly justified by their scaly skin giving them enough armor to protect them from such minor injuries.
* StuckInAChimney: Kate's father tried to surprise his family by ChimneyEntry one Christmas. Unfortunately, he broke his neck and died in the process. Kate's family didn't find this out until later when they broke through the chimney to discover why there was a bad smell coming from it.
* SurprisinglyFunctionalToys: When the heroes track down Stripe to a department store, Gizmo finds a toy car sized for him, which he can drive around by the steering wheel, and even has a functioning horn, and soon the good Mogwai is driving around in the store looking for Stripe.
* SympathyForTheDevil, the second Gremlin Billy's mom kills is stabbed to death with a butcher's knife. [[spoiler: Or so you think until you see it behind her pinned to her cutting board wiggling around trying to pull the knife out! Sure they are nasty little monsters but being pinned to the ground with a knife through the gut is a horrible way to go. Finish the little bugger off at least.]]
* TagalongKid: Billy seems to have an older brother type of relationship with a kid called Pete who hangs out with him.
* TechnicolorDeath: It's not enough for sunlight to just kill Gremlins. [[spoiler:It has to melt them alive]].
* ThemeNaming: All of Ms. Deagle's cats are named after different currencies: Dollar Bill, Kopeck, Drachma, etc.
* TooDumbToLive: Kate's father had to have been a very stupid man. [[spoiler:Jumping down your own chimney while overloaded with presents like Santa Claus is only asking for trouble. To quote WebVideo/CinemaSins, "Christmas didn't kill your father, Kate, stupid did."]]
* TowerDefense: Pete is seen defending his room's window against invading gremlins.
* UniformityException: Both Gizmo and Stripe have a distinguishing feature that sets them apart from the other Mogwai/Gremlins' "standard" design: Gizmo has a white patch over his left eye, whereas Stripe has a mohawk of white hair on his head which he retains as a Gremlin.
* VillainsOutShopping: Late in the film, the gremlins take a break from their usual mischief to watch ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' in the theater.
* TheVoice: The DJ at the town radio station, "Rockin' Ricky Rialto". Gremlins are heard breaking into his studio, but as noted above he survives.
--->'''Rockin' Ricky:''' Hey wait a minute, you're not Rockin' Ricky fans!...
* TroublemakingNewPet: Even before turning into Gremlins, Gizmo's offspring demonstrate their cruel and rambunctious streak to the Peltzers' other pets, tormenting Gizmo multiple times, and tying Barney up with Christmas lights. They easily get away with the latter due to Billy's suspecting Ms. Deagle, who vocally hated Barney.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** Billy's friend Pete is last seen firing his slingshot at a few gremlins. Then later we hear him calling into the radio station trying to give a warning out about them, and then [[FridgeHorror he gets cut off]]. Pete doesn't appear in the sequel (Corey Feldman was in rehab at the time), nor is he even mentioned.
** Judge Reinhold's character Gerald is seemingly introduced as an (unsuccessful) rival for Kate's affections, and disappears from the movie after appearing in two scenes. A deleted scene shows that he was hiding out in the bank vault while the Gremlins ran wild, and is losing his sanity.
** The final fate of the Mogwai/Gremlin that Billy lent to Mr. Hanson is never really explained.
*** He could have joined with the other Gremlins afterwards.
** The two cops flip their car after a Gremlin cuts their brakes, and don't appear for the rest of the movie. It's unclear whether or not they survived.
** Mr. Wing's Grandson is never seen again in the movie or mentioned in the sequel. The novelization however explains that he was severely punished by his grandfather for the back alley sale of Gizmo.
** Mr. Hanson get his hand chewed/clawed up and a syringe in the butt, but it's never outright stated that he's been killed, and he's never mentioned again.
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: Do not feed Mogwai after midnight.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: One particular Mogwai, stated as Earl in official media, is hinted in the film and novel as being one of the few Mogwai blessed with a more docile personality similar to Gizmo, [[spoiler:that is until he is taken to the middle school to be experimented on and then happening on that sandwich, condemning him to become another psychotic Gremlin and (presumably) suffer the same ill fate as all his other brethren.]]
* YouAreNotReady: Although it is hinted that Billy may be one day.
* YouCantThwartStageOne: There are three rules to properly care for Mogwais. Billy goes far enough as to break two of those rules so that the movie can really set in full gear in favor of the Gremlins. However the third rule is used to finally thwart Stripe.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Ruby Deagle was a dowager in her early sixties, but she was played by Polly Holliday, who was 46 at the time.
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->''"So if your air conditioner goes on the fritz, or your washing machine blows up, or your video recorder conks out, before you call the repairman, turn on all the lights, check all the closets and cupboards, look under all the beds, 'cause you never can tell. There just might be a gremlin in your house."''
-->-- '''Rand Peltzer'''
''Gremlins'' is a 1984 dark HorrorComedy film directed by Creator/JoeDante, and executive produced by Creator/StevenSpielberg.
Inventor Randall Peltzer stops by Chinatown in New York City to pick up a gift for his son, Billy. He ends up getting a mysterious, yet undeniably adorable, critter called a ''mogwai''. The creature comes [[SchmuckBait with instructions]], though:
* [[WeakenedByTheLight Don't let it near bright light.]]
* [[ExplosiveBreeder Don't get it wet.]]
* [[WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve Don't feed it after midnight.]]
The creature, named Gizmo, is gentle and well-behaved, but after he accidentally gets splashed with water, more ''mogwai'' suddenly form, and this new, mean-spirited batch tricks Billy into feeding them after midnight. They all form cocoons, and then turn into ugly, frightening gremlins, who [[HilarityEnsues gleefully cause havoc and terrorize the town]].
Followed by the 1990 sequel, ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch''.
This movie, along with ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'', is the reason why the PG-13 rating was created in the U.S. (and the 12 rating in the U.K.).
----
!!This film provides examples of:
* ActionMom: Mrs. Peltzer turns unexpectedly and brilliantly badass when she kills three (pre-gremlin army) gremlins in one scene alone. Her weapons of choice: Blender, kitchen knife, and ''microwave''.
-->'''Mrs Peltzer''': Get out of my kitchen!!
* AnAssKickingChristmas: It falls under this when the town is invaded by monsters on Christmas Eve.
* AloneWithThePsycho: After seeing the gremlin that had attacked Mr. Hanson, Billy immediately knew that his mother was in danger and quickly raced back home. Subverted by his mother [[ActionMom turning the tables]] and taking three of them out herself.
* AndYourLittleDogToo: Mrs. Deagle's EstablishingCharacterMoment involves her showcasing herself as a very vile woman in many ways, mentioning that she hates the Peltzers and culminating with threatening to kill Billy's dog in the most grisly way she can think of in retribution for it accidentally destroying her property.
* ArtisticLicenseEconomics:
** As soon as Randall Peltzer finds out that Gizmo reproduced upon getting wet, he thinks that selling mogwai could be his big break. Yeeeeeeeeah... because a species that [[ExplosiveBreeder reproduces]] when exposed to a little water [[SarcasmMode is sure going to stay in demand for awhile.]]. JustifiedTrope -- Rand's frequently shown to be absolutely terrible with money, to the point Billy's the breadwinner for the household.
** So kicking out tenants that can't pay without providing them so much as a single day's extra time even if they beg for it and treating them like absolute crap (and being such an absolute bitch that everybody in town knows it) is supposed to provide Mrs. Deagle with money, ''how''...? [[spoiler:No wonder AllThereInTheManual exposes that it's a deliberate part of a [[TheCon real estate scam]] (a mall in deleted scenes, a company that was going to use the land to ''dispose of toxic waste'' in the novelization).]]
* AssholeVictim: Mrs. Deagle was SUCH a bitch, especially in the deleted scenes that reveal she was forcing people out of their homes to put down a strip mall, effectively destroying Kingston Falls.
** In the novelization, she was selling their land to a chemical company (named "[[MeaningfulName Hitox]]" of all things), so one can assume she was going to turn the town into a toxic waste dump.
** Even in the onscreen version, she is a heartless ice-bitch who casually evicts poor widows with children on Christmas Eve, and gleefully threatens to kill helpless little dogs by throwing them in the drying machine.
*** Almost {{Lampshaded}} herself after seeing the Gremlins for the first time, convinced "they're" coming for her. Her [[VillainousBreakdown breakdown]] into delusional sobbing before she activates her tampered stairlift and her own demise [[strike: almost makes you feel sorry for her]] makes you cheer as she ''literally'' flies down to Hell where she belongs (the Latin American translation even adds "to go to Hell" to the line below).
--->'''Mrs. Deagle:''' I'm not ready!!!
** There's actually a bit cut out of the scene leading up to her death, where she looks at a picture of her dead husband and sighs "Oh, Donald. . ." It was ''so'' good they had to cut it out because it made her too sympathetic. And this ''after'' she's threatened to put a friendly, cute dog into a spin dryer on high heat!
* AutomaticDoorMalfunction: The novelization mentions that the Gremlins messed with automatic doors in some stores by making them open normally but then slam shut with enough speed and force to injure people.
* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals:
** On top of telling a woman and her children that she will not allow them so much as a day's extension in their delayed payment and she will have them kicked out of their home on Christmas Eve, Mrs. Deagle establishes she is a complete monster by threatening to snatch Billy's dog and toss the poor thing in her drier in revenge for the dog accidentally smashing her porcelain snowman (Billy offers to pay her back and she insists she will not accept anything less than the dog's life as retribution).
** The Gremlins' extra-vicious leader Stripe isn't any better, even when he's still a fuzzy little Mogwai. One of the early amber flags (if not ''red'' flags) about the new Mogwai's true nature is that in the night, Stripe has Billy's dog strung up on the porch with Christmas lights and left hanging outside in the frigid winter air. The Peltzers don't piece together that it was the cloned Mogwai who were responsible, but to the viewer, it's clear.
* BigBad: Stripe, the first mogwai/gremlin born when Gizmo got wet, and the leader of the gremlins. He proves to be a much more dangerous threat than the other Gremlins, nearly killing Billy at several points.
* BigDamnHeroes:
** Billy manages to decapitate a Gremlin choking his mother.
** Gizmo [[spoiler:exposes Stripe to sunlight at the end, just as the gremlin is about to shoot Billy and [[HereWeGoAgain produce a new army of gremlins]].]]
* BigNo: Gizmo lets out one when he sees Stripe is about to jump into a pool.
* BittersweetEnding: The Gremlins have been defeated and everything is safe again, but Gizmo has to go back to Chinatown with Mr. Wing, who delivers a withering TheReasonYouSuck to the family for the chaos they unwittingly unleashed. However, seeing the bond Gizmo has developed with Billy, Mr. Wing acknowledges that Billy may one day be the one to take care of Gizmo.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Billy's biology teacher is the only black character in the film, and the gremlins' first victim.
* BunglingInventor: Randall Peltzer's inventions are nothing but disasters that leave tremendous messes behind and it's implied Billy is the primary bread-winner of the family because of this. He still insists in trying to make money out of them, even thinking it would be a good GetRichQuickScheme to try to exploit the mogwais' ability to make more of them by making them wet (even if it's obvious that such a thing would make demand run out real quick, let alone the "newborns are evil" thing).
* TheCameo: Creator/ChuckJones is the man who compliments Billy's drawing skills at the bar early in the film. Jim [=McKrell=] (host and announcer of a few game shows, most notably ''Celebrity Sweepstakes'') and a young [[Series/TheHollywoodSquares Tom]] [[Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos Bergeron]] (then a personality at WBZ-TV 4 in Boston) make appearances as TV news reporters.
* CaptainErsatz: Mrs. Deagle looks and acts a lot like [[Film/TheWizardOfOz The Wicked Witch of the West]] and her human counterpart Miss Gulch, right down to threatening the main character's dog.
* CheatersNeverProsper: Stripe instantly shoots another Gremlin for trying to sneak extra cards into their poker game.
* ChekhovsGun: At the beginning of the movie, the first rule explains that Gizmo's species hates bright lights and that sunlight in particular is lethal to them. At first, this just seemed like a necessary rule to care for Gizmo, but it ends up being the most important weapon in the fight against the gremlins, the former part allowing them to drive them off while Gizmo ends up using the latter half to destroy the gremlin leader.
** The ornamental swords hanging next to the door (and which keep falling off every time someone comes into the house) are actually pretty deadly when put to good use.
* ChimneyEntry: Kate's father tried to surprise his family this way one Christmas. Unfortunately, he broke his neck and died in the process.
* CookedToDeath: Billy's mom is attacked in the kitchen by the initial batch of title monsters. She tosses one into a mixer and backs another one into a microwave, which she then activates.
* CrazyCatLady: Mrs. Deagle again. She is shown to adore her numerous cats and nurture them in a disturbingly affectionate manner. Not that the heartless old hag showed '''any''' of the same kindness to ''children'' who can be made homeless by one word from her, mind you. The fact that the cats are all named after various pieces of currency from around the world plainly shows [[OnlyInItForTheMoney what she REALLY cares about]].
* CreatorInJoke: The working titles for Creator/StevenSpielberg's movies ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'' and ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' were "Watch the Skies" and "A Boy's Life" respectively. Both were referenced as a CreatorInJoke in ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' (which Spielberg produced), as two movies reportedly showing in the town theater when Billy walks past it. Also, Rockin' Ricky Rialto's billboard is in the style of Indiana Jones from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.
* CreatorCameo: Steven Spielberg is seen at the inventors' convention, ridign a crazy-looking recumbent bike.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The first film is definitely this to the LighterAndSofter sequel, having a ton of frightening imagery, making the Gremlins nightmarish demons with a sense of humor that ranges from corny to twisted. Not to mention the death toll by the end of the film.
** And the original script compared to the first film. The script includes such scenes as the Mogwai eating Barney (before they turn into Gremlins), killing Billy's mom immediately after they turn (and throwing her dismembered head down the stairs just as Billy walks in the front door and thus landing at his feet...imagine that image welcoming you home as you walk unsuspectingly into your house), a UsefulNotes/McDonalds full of half-eaten burgers (by people) and half-eaten people (by Gremlins). Oh, and Gizmo turned into a Gremlin, indistinguishable from any of the others. Rumour suggests he might have even originally been in the place of Stripe as the leader of the Gremlin gang.
* DartboardOfHate: Poor Gizmo is himself strapped to the dartboard not long after the Gremlins emerge from their cocoons, who then proceed to chuck darts at him, showing how much their contempt for him has grown. The scene serves as a meta one for the filmmakers as well, who made it to express their own frustration in how difficult it was to make the small Gizmo puppet work alongside the much larger gremlins.
* DeadlineNews: Subverted with "Rockin' Ricky" Rialto's radio broadcast. We hear him believing the radio listeners calling to denounce the gremlin-caused chaos are pranking him and then his desperate screaming as the Gremlins attack him before the transmission cuts off but he comes back a few scenes later having apparently fought them off by himself.
* DestinationDefenestration: This is how Mrs. Deagle meets her end, courtesy of the Gremlins.
* DisneyDeath: It appears that the Futtermans are crushed and killed by a snowplow-driving gremlin, but at the very end of the movie we hear a news reporter mentioning that he'd just spoken with the lovable old couple, who are still alive and well. Viewers who missed that often mistake their reappearance in the sequel as an UnexplainedRecovery (although how they survived the encounter isn't shown, either).
** The novelization, based on an earlier draft of the script, reveals this to be a last second addition. They're explicitly stated to have died in that version.
* DrowningMySorrows: Mr. Futterman is put out of a job, and then finds out his beloved Kentucky Harvester has foreign-made parts in it.
* EatsBabies: In the original script, a scene was planned where Billy and Kate would have come across a UsefulNotes/McDonalds full of partially devoured people, including ''many'' empty baby strollers and a gremlin so bloated from its feast that it had been abandoned by its fellows.
* FromBadToWorse: After four of the original gremlins are wiped out[[note]]the whereabouts of Earl, the gremlin from school, being unknown[[/note]], Stripe, the last one remaining, flees. Billy and Gizmo track him down to the Y.M.C.A...where he jumps into a pool.
* GamblingBrawl: A group of Gremlins are playing poker in the bar when one of them tries to cheat. Stripe pulls out a gun and shoots the other Gremlin dead on the spot, which causes the rest of his ilk to [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor burst into laughter]].
* GetRichQuickScheme: One of these is what makes the whole mess happen -- Mr. Wing's grandson sells Gizmo to Randall Peltzer because the store's location (and Mr. Wing's persnickety nature) have turned it into a money pit. It's also showcased that Peltzer's inventions are this and thus Billy is the primary breadwinner of the family. When he sees the way Mogwai reproduce, Randall briefly entertains the thought of selling the Mogwai as "the Peltzer Pet" (not thinking of how quickly demand will run out if all it takes to make more of them is any amount of water, and not knowing that all Mogwai but Gizmo are very vicious even before turning into Gremlins).
* GiftShake: Billy starts to do this with his present, but is quickly stopped by his father since the box contains Gizmo.
* GrossUpCloseUp: The shots of the mogwai sloppily devouring the fried chicken Billy gives them.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Rockin' Ricky manages to survive a Gremlin assault on his radio station, and is back on the air at the end of the movie. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it line from his survival broadcast, he mentions Marines have arrived to keep the creatures away from his station. [[FromBadToWorse Armed with fire hoses.]]
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: All of the events happen during Christmas Eve.
* JerkAss: Gerald qualifies although he does seem to have some kind of liking for Billy. He doesn't so much put Billy down as to question why he isn't doing more with his life, even if he's not terribly nice about it.
* KickTheDog: In the DarkerAndEdgier original script, the gremlins killed the Peltzers' pet dog, and Billy would have returned home to see his mother's head roll down the stairs. In the final version they just dangle Barney up with Christmas lights, and the mother survives with minor injuries.
* KillItWithFire: Finding that the gremlins have gathered in a movie theater, Billy and Kate set off a gas explosion in the hopes of wiping them all out. It works, but Stripe survives because he had left the theater to get some candy from a nearby store.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: A [[ShowWithinAShow Movie Within a Movie]] version when Billy and Gizmo are watching ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1956''. Miles Benell's mad rant at the end of the film regarding the pod people could be seen like it was aimed at Billy and Gizmo, [[{{Foreshadowing}} warning them about the gremlins]].
* LeitmotifUponDeath: [[spoiler:A rendition of The Gremlin Rag, the gremlins' leitmotif, plays when Stripe, their leader, melts in the sunlight.]]
* LighterAndSofter: At least, compared to the original script draft.
* TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday: Mr. Wing's shop is in a basement deep in Chinatown and his own grandson mentions that clientele doesn't arrive very often as a result.
* MicrowaveMisuse: One of the eponymous monsters is killed in the microwave; going pop in a very spectacular fashion.
* MyCarHatesMe: Played with. In the beginning, Billy's car refuses to start, forcing him to walk to work. In the middle of the Gremlin attack, it actually starts for him. But later, when he tries to drive it again, it won't start. This might actually have some Fridge Brilliance behind it.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Billy unwittingly feeding the mogwai after midnight, though that can be forgiven as they had to trick him into doing it. Also implied near the end of the film where Rockin' Ricky can be overheard on the radio saying that the marines are planning to spray down the Gremlins with firehoses, though the main characters manage to stop them before that ever happens.
* NightmareFace: The sight of the gremlin laughing evilly up close facing you after the deputy's car crashes is enough to give ''anyone'' a nightmare. Yeah, good luck trying to sleep after seeing this.
* NobodyCanDie: Sort of a SeriesContinuityError. In the first movie we see Mrs Deagle's body and a number of humans seem to die offscreen. But early in the second movie Kate mentions that fortunately nobody got killed.
** One wonders how the science teacher survived, plus the news report at the film's end ''explicitly'' confirms that Mrs. Deagle had indeed died and hadn't just been knocked out. Maybe Kate was lying.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Possibly with Rockin' Ricky Rialto. The gremlins attack him while he's on the air, but he later comes back to the airwaves, apparently none the worse for wear. This could imply that he managed to defeat whatever gremlins attacked the radio station, although the gremlins may also have simply broken off their attack to go to the movie theater with the others.
* OffWithHisHead:
** In the DarkerAndEdgier original script, Billy returned home to see his mother's head rolling down the stairs.
** In the film itself, Billy decapitates a gremlin with a sword and kicks the severed head in the fireplace, and it screams as it's on fire.
* OhCrap:
** Billy's reaction after the last gremlin, Stripe, jumps into a public swimming pool. Gremlin Army ensues.
** When he's lying on the ground gasping in pain from Stripe shooting a crossbow bolt into his arm, and then he hears [[FromBadToWorse the sound of an electric chainsaw whirring to life]].
** The Gremlin choking Billy's mom, just before Billy chops his head off. "Uh-oh."
** Really, one after another after another as soon as the Gremlins hatch:
*** Billy when he gets the phone call from Mr. Hanson saying that "It just hatched."
*** Again when he finds Mr. Hanson's dead body.
*** Billy's mom when she hears the Gremlins upstairs, then goes up to Billy's room and sees the hatched cocoons.
*** Billy calling his mom to warn her that "They've hatched, get out of the house!"
*** Billy ''and'' his mom as the phone call gets cut off, then "Do You Hear What I Hear" starts playing downstairs.
*** Finally, Billy's Mom when she sees the Gremlin eating one of her gingerbread men.
** Stripe freaks out when he realizes that Kate has found a way to repel his Gremlins with a camera flash.
* OutOfFocus: Mrs. Peltzer has one ActionMom scene and then disappears for most of the movie. Possibly because in the original script the gremlins killed her.
* ParentsAsPeople: Billy's handling of Gizmo in his defense is pretty responsible, the two bond very closely, and he does ''try'' to follow the rules for caring for the Mogwai. Unfortunately, he never anticipates ''other'' forces breaking the rules instead, like his friend clumsily spilling water on Gizmo, or the resulting Mogwai intentionally sabotaging his clock so he will feed them after midnight. Mr Wing at least seems to acknowledge Billy's efforts in the end, noting he might be ready "one day".
* PoliceAreUseless: Joe Dante probably defines this trope best in the commentary track: "Whenever you have a sci-fi film, and police, you always have to have a scene with the police, and it's always the same scene." Which ends with the police, still not believing Billy despite seeing Gizmo with their own eyes, leaving to investigate the Futterman's "freak accident" with the snowplow, seeing Mrs. Deagle and a guy playing Santa getting attacked by Gremlins, then getting their brake lines cut and presumably dying in the ensuing car crash.
* ProperlyParanoid: Mr. Futterman's crazy drunk talk about gremlins had some truth to it. During the climax, Billy even says that he was right.
* PupatingPeril: It's eventually discovered that Mogwai who are allowed to eat after midnight end up encased in creepy, Giger-esque cocoons as they begin metamorphosing into Gremlins. This is played for much ominousness when Billy discovers that five of his six Mogwai are now cocoons clustered around his bed; it eventually results in an especially nightmarish moment in which the newly-metamorphosed Gremlins begin clawing their way out of their cocoons while a terrified Gizmo tries to hide.
* SchmuckBait: "And the most important rule of all, the one you must never forget: no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never, EVER feed him after midnight."
** Subverted. Billy takes this rule seriously, even though he doesn't know what exactly is going to happen, and honestly intends to follow it. The evil Mogwai had to trick him into breaking it. [[spoiler:To be specific, he thought it was safe to feed them as it wasn't midnight yet. His clock had been tampered with.]]
* ShirtlessScene: Billy gets one after his [[BunglingInventor father]]'s orange juicer explodes on him, forcing him to change shirts.
* ShoutOut:
** "Hi, [[Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau Doctor Moreau]]."
*** Notably, this isn't the neighbor Billy takes his injured mother to after the Gremlins first hatch (that's Dr. Mollinaro). This is someone Billy sees as he's running down the street to get to work at the bank. Apparently, Dr. Moreau works at the animal clinic...
** When Billy is hunting down Stripe in the department store, he walks past a row of plush dolls. Not only is Stripe hiding amongst them (a direct reference to ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'') he pushes away an ''actual'' doll of E.T. while poking his head out.
*** Another E.T reference comes when one of the gremlins says "Phone home"...right before [[CutPhoneLines ripping out the phone line and disconnecting Billy's call with his mother]].
*** One of the theaters is showing ''A Boy's Life'', which was the working title of ''E.T.'', and ''Watch The Skies'', the working title of ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind''.
** [[Film/ForbiddenPlanet Robbie the Robot]] and Film/TheTimeMachine1960 appear (or disappear, in the latter's case) in the inventor convention attended by Mr. Peltzer.
** At Dory's when talking with Billy Gerald orders a martini shaken not stirred.
** Rockin' Ricky Rialto's billboard is a reference to ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', complete with Rialto's name in the same font as the ''Raiders'' poster and Rialto's likeness dressed as Indiana Jones.
** Mr. Wing's son is dressed like [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom Short Round]].
** The gremlin cocoons bear a resemblance to the eggs from ''Film/{{Alien}}''.
** In Billy's bedroom you can see a ''Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie'' title marquee in the background. The film featured a segment Joe Dante himself directed: A radically different remake of the episode ''It's A Good Life''.
** Billy mentions he got a comic book from "Dr. Fantasy's". Dr. Fantasy is the nickname of movie producer Frank Marshall, a regular collaborator with Spielberg.
** One of the gremlins in the bar is doing the dance from ''Film/FlashDance''. Michael Sembello, who did the song "Gremlins...Mega Madness" for this movie, also did the famous "Maniac" song.
* SoftGlass: The Gremlins (mostly Stripe) have no problem breaking through windows seemingly by just running through them. Possibly justified by their scaly skin giving them enough armor to protect them from such minor injuries.
* StuckInAChimney: Kate's father tried to surprise his family by ChimneyEntry one Christmas. Unfortunately, he broke his neck and died in the process. Kate's family didn't find this out until later when they broke through the chimney to discover why there was a bad smell coming from it.
* SurprisinglyFunctionalToys: When the heroes track down Stripe to a department store, Gizmo finds a toy car sized for him, which he can drive around by the steering wheel, and even has a functioning horn, and soon the good Mogwai is driving around in the store looking for Stripe.
* SympathyForTheDevil, the second Gremlin Billy's mom kills is stabbed to death with a butcher's knife. [[spoiler: Or so you think until you see it behind her pinned to her cutting board wiggling around trying to pull the knife out! Sure they are nasty little monsters but being pinned to the ground with a knife through the gut is a horrible way to go. Finish the little bugger off at least.]]
* TagalongKid: Billy seems to have an older brother type of relationship with a kid called Pete who hangs out with him.
* TechnicolorDeath: It's not enough for sunlight to just kill Gremlins. [[spoiler:It has to melt them alive]].
* ThemeNaming: All of Ms. Deagle's cats are named after different currencies: Dollar Bill, Kopeck, Drachma, etc.
* TooDumbToLive: Kate's father had to have been a very stupid man. [[spoiler:Jumping down your own chimney while overloaded with presents like Santa Claus is only asking for trouble. To quote WebVideo/CinemaSins, "Christmas didn't kill your father, Kate, stupid did."]]
* TowerDefense: Pete is seen defending his room's window against invading gremlins.
* UniformityException: Both Gizmo and Stripe have a distinguishing feature that sets them apart from the other Mogwai/Gremlins' "standard" design: Gizmo has a white patch over his left eye, whereas Stripe has a mohawk of white hair on his head which he retains as a Gremlin.
* VillainsOutShopping: Late in the film, the gremlins take a break from their usual mischief to watch ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' in the theater.
* TheVoice: The DJ at the town radio station, "Rockin' Ricky Rialto". Gremlins are heard breaking into his studio, but as noted above he survives.
--->'''Rockin' Ricky:''' Hey wait a minute, you're not Rockin' Ricky fans!...
* TroublemakingNewPet: Even before turning into Gremlins, Gizmo's offspring demonstrate their cruel and rambunctious streak to the Peltzers' other pets, tormenting Gizmo multiple times, and tying Barney up with Christmas lights. They easily get away with the latter due to Billy's suspecting Ms. Deagle, who vocally hated Barney.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** Billy's friend Pete is last seen firing his slingshot at a few gremlins. Then later we hear him calling into the radio station trying to give a warning out about them, and then [[FridgeHorror he gets cut off]]. Pete doesn't appear in the sequel (Corey Feldman was in rehab at the time), nor is he even mentioned.
** Judge Reinhold's character Gerald is seemingly introduced as an (unsuccessful) rival for Kate's affections, and disappears from the movie after appearing in two scenes. A deleted scene shows that he was hiding out in the bank vault while the Gremlins ran wild, and is losing his sanity.
** The final fate of the Mogwai/Gremlin that Billy lent to Mr. Hanson is never really explained.
*** He could have joined with the other Gremlins afterwards.
** The two cops flip their car after a Gremlin cuts their brakes, and don't appear for the rest of the movie. It's unclear whether or not they survived.
** Mr. Wing's Grandson is never seen again in the movie or mentioned in the sequel. The novelization however explains that he was severely punished by his grandfather for the back alley sale of Gizmo.
** Mr. Hanson get his hand chewed/clawed up and a syringe in the butt, but it's never outright stated that he's been killed, and he's never mentioned again.
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: Do not feed Mogwai after midnight.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: One particular Mogwai, stated as Earl in official media, is hinted in the film and novel as being one of the few Mogwai blessed with a more docile personality similar to Gizmo, [[spoiler:that is until he is taken to the middle school to be experimented on and then happening on that sandwich, condemning him to become another psychotic Gremlin and (presumably) suffer the same ill fate as all his other brethren.]]
* YouAreNotReady: Although it is hinted that Billy may be one day.
* YouCantThwartStageOne: There are three rules to properly care for Mogwais. Billy goes far enough as to break two of those rules so that the movie can really set in full gear in favor of the Gremlins. However the third rule is used to finally thwart Stripe.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Ruby Deagle was a dowager in her early sixties, but she was played by Polly Holliday, who was 46 at the time.
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