Portal:Horror/Selected article archive/April 2007

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Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a 1990 American film, and a sequel to Gremlins (1984). It was directed by Joe Dante and written by Charles S. Haas, with creature designs by Rick Baker. It stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, John Glover, Robert Prosky, Haviland Morris, Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph, Robert Picardo, and Christopher Lee.

The story continues the adventures of the creature Gizmo, who spawns numerous small monsters when wet. In the first film, Gizmo's offspring had rampaged through a small fictional town. In Gremlins 2, Gizmo multiplies within a skyscraper in New York City. The new creatures thus pose a serious threat to the city should they be able to leave the building, and much of the story involves the human characters' efforts to prevent this disaster.

Like the first film, Gremlins 2 is a live action comedy-horror film. However, Dante put effort into taking the sequel in new anarchic directions. In general, the film is meant to be more cartoon-like than the darker original, and the violence is fairly slapstick. There are also a number of parodies of other films and stories, most notably Gremlins itself, as well as the Rambo films, The Wizard of Oz, Marathon Man and The Phantom of the Opera. As with the first film, critical response varied. However, some critics who thought the first film was too dark gave Gremlins 2 better reviews. Unlike its highly successful predecessor, Gremlins 2 had a mediocre performance at the box office. (continued...)