Gremlins: The Shopping Mall

The film Gremlins has become a cult comedy horror movie since its original release in 1984. It tells the story of a cute, furry little creature called a mogwai, who looks like everyone's idea of a dream pet.

However, when the mogwai isn't treated properly, it can produce hundreds of other creatures, who are evil, destructive little monsters. They run amok in the fictional American town of Kingston Falls, wreaking havoc and even killing people during their trail of mass destruction.

Gremlins was a huge box office hit. Released on a budget of $11 million, it made $153.1 million at the worldwide box office and spawned a multitude of memorabilia including video games, solid figurines, stuffed animal toys, puppets, a novel and even a branded cereal!

 

Plot and cast

Randall Peltzer (played by Hoyt Axton) is walking around Chinatown, looking for a Christmas present for his son, Billy (played by Zach Galligan). He finds a mysterious antiques store, where he sees an adorable, small, furry creature, called a mogwai - the Cantonese term for "monster". While the store's owner, Mr Wing, refuses to sell him the pet, Mr Wing's grandson sells Peltzer the mogwai without his grandfather's knowledge, telling him three important rules: don't expose the mogwai to sunlight or bright lights, never let it get wet and don't feed it after midnight.

Sadly, the rules are broken almost straight away when Billy’s friend Pete (Corey Feldman) spills a glass of water on the mogwai, who has been called Gizmo. Suddenly, five more mogwai appear to spawn from Gizmo's back - and unlike the original, they are hell-bent on trouble!

Gizmo, voiced by Howie Mandel, isn't a bad mogwai and is horrified at the destruction that the mischievous mogwai are causing, but he doesn't know how to stop them.

Soon, more mogwais are spawning all over the place and end up terrorising Kingston Falls. They torture poor Gizmo, try to kill Billy's mother and turn into an army of gremlins, who take over the town. Many people are injured and even killed as the gremlin army trashes everything in its wake.

Poor Mrs Deagle (Polly Holliday) is killed when the gremlins tamper with her stair lift and she is catapulted right out of her house!

Billy and his girlfriend Kate (played by Phoebe Cates) are tasked with rounding them up and ridding the town of the rampaging gremlins, who have a taste for alcohol.

 

Shopping mall

Most of the gremlins end up drunk in the cinema, watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, so Billy and Kate blow up the cinema. However, one creature, called Stripe, escapes and jumps into the local public swimming pool, spawning yet more creatures.

The final showdown takes place in a shopping mall, where gremlins take over the Montgomery Ward department store! Stripe is the most evil gremlin and first of all he tries to shoot Billy with a crossbow.

However, it's Gizmo to the rescue as he jumps in a toy car and races to save Billy from his grizzly fate but Stripe doesn't give in easily and tries to jump into a decorative water fountain in the store to spawn yet more mogwais.

Gizmo saves the day again when he manages to open a skylight. It becomes clear why mogwais shouldn't be exposed to sunlight as Stripe is killed by its rays before he has managed to multiply in the fountain. Gizmo manages to avoid the sunlight and survives.

Despite the shop (and the whole town) being trashed and the cinema having been blown up, at least the gremlins have finally gone. After being instrumental in saving Kingston Falls, Gizmo is reunited with Mr Wing, who has been looking for him.

Mr Wing scolds the Peltzer family for failing to look after Gizmo properly, thus causing the ensuing havoc. He says the world isn't ready for the mogwai, although he thinks Billy might be responsible enough one day to look after him.

Gizmo and Billy have become quite fond of each other, but Mr Wing leaves with Gizmo regardless, never wanting to repeat the disaster!

There were two sequels to Gremlins, including Gremlins 2: The New Batch in 1990 and Gremlins: Recall in 2017, but neither of them matched the popularity and cult status of the first movie.

In the unlikely event that your shop is destroyed by an army of tiny gremlins, contact KAS Shopfittings and we'll be able to supply you with a wide variety of new shop fittings right away.

Available for nationwide delivery, our stock includes counters, shelving, slatwall, card racks and other shop display equipment. Contact us on 01793 754230 for further details.