_**Cute creatures morph into hellions during Christmas**_ A traveling inventor (Hoyt Axton) brings home a cute animal he bought at a shop in Chinatown for a Christmas gift, but the rules for the animal’s care are broken and all hell breaks loose. Zach Galligan plays the son and Phoebe Cates his girlfriend. “Gremlins” (1984) mixes Christmas movie with Comedy, Fantasy & Horror for an entertaining popcorn flick. The mogwai creatures are cute and you’re not sure how safe the movie is going play out but, thankfully, it turns amusingly edgy. The inclusion of cutie Phoebe Cates helps. The film runs 1 hour, 46 minutes and was shot at Universal Studios, Universal City, California. GRADE: B-

**Clever, creepy, Christmasy, and loads of fun! Gremlins should be a part of everyone's Christmas traditions!** Gremlins should be at the top of everyone's favorite Christmas movie list. It's full of the 80s teenage adventure cheesiness, cute cuddly creatures, and creepy monsters. Gremlins radiates the same classic spirit and tone as other films of the time, like The Goonies or E.T., but Gremlins adds a little horror flavor. Admittedly, the film isn't particularly scary as it seeks to poke fun at more serious alien critter movies of the time. Still, its creepy atmosphere and twisted little monsters, mixed with the holiday cheer and quaintness of the quiet small town of Kingston Falls, set it apart from other 80s creature features. For many, sitting around the Christmas tree, sipping hot chocolate, and watching Gremlins is a yearly tradition. It might be a little dated, but Gremlins is a fun, adventurous film unlike any other Christmas movie.

When his gadget-peddling dad returns home one evening with an early Christmas present, he tells “Billy” (Zach Galligan) that he must take extra care not to get it wet, nor to expose it to bright light and - most importantly, no nibbles after midnight. That might have been ok, save for his friend who accidentally breaks one of the rules. One becomes two, becomes four, becomes… They are quite cute and cuddly little critters, so no harm seems to be done - until one of those gets hold of a late night snack and then the malevolent “Stripe” emerges to take charge of a veritable army of hungry and fairly lethal menaces who proceed to trash the entire town. Now, poor old “Billy” and his friend “Kate” (Phoebe Cates) have to try and find some way of getting this furry toothpaste back into the tube before the entire country is over-run. Galligan does fine here with his boy next door characterisation, and fans of Warner Oland’s “Charlie Chan” mysteries from the 1930s might recognise that Keye Luke has aged rather well as the sagely Chinaman who knew better how to leave well alone in the first place; but the rest of the rest of the acting all plays second fiddle to the chainsaw-wielding “Stripe” who, like many of his brethren, seems to have been conceived in a world more befitting Sigourney Weaver. It’s a little cheesy at the start, but once the action starts this races along entertainingly with one of the best incidences of weaponised popcorn I’ve ever seen. There is a message about mankind’s cavalier attitude to things it doesn’t understand - either culturally or naturally; the romance between the leads is kept to a minimum and the comedic elements quite successfully marry elements of slapstick with the equivalent of a custard-pie fight as we embark on an enjoyable exercise that must have had the toy marketeers spinning dollar signs in their eyes.