Gremlins is a movie that I saw in the early 1980's with my kids and saw again recently. The character played by Zak Galligan is a teen who receives a cute little pet from his dad. The small pet with cute ears and eyes is certainly unique and as innocent looking as a small kitten. The pet came with warnings which were largely ignored. Before long, the gremlin began to multiply and terrorize the town. There is a comforting setting in a small town in upstate New York with an assortment of characters, including the boy's father, an inventor whose gadgets usually don't measure up. Things go totally out of control with the gremlin producing numerous other gremlins who are definitely not meek and cute. The explosion of mishaps from these little monsters is very much in the style of executive producer Steven Spielberg. Phoebe Cates stars as the young friend to Zak, who is a hard-working and conscientious young man who eventually has to deal with the horror unleashed by his pet. The technical wizardry takes on a life of its own but becomes too much for the viewer and I found myself hoping it would all come to an end. While it is an amusing movie with a string of astonishing visual effects, it does wear itself out. The movie is a part of Spielberg's cinematic chronology but not a high point among his many great efforts.
