Basically a children's film with horrific overtones (though not suitable for tinies), this is a vastly entertaining fantasy. Director Joe (InnerSpace) Dante doesn't miss a trick, right from the moody opening in Chinatown, where Papa (Hoyt Axton, whose narration and performance are both spot-on) buys a mogwai. An endearing cross between a chihuahua and a bat-eared fox, the mogwai must not, Axton is told, be exposed to bright light, have water dropped on it or be fed after midnight. Of course, you don't need me to tell you that Axton and his family rapidly do all three, ending up with a whole pack of man-eating, three-feet high, slavering gremlins who, besides people, eat everything in sight, stop the traffic, smoke and gamble in the local bars and enjoy a showing of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The trick-work and technical skill involved in all this is immense, and the humour, sentiment, excitement and horror, although all pretty basic, are blended as well as one could reasonably expect. The highlight of the fun and grisly games is, undoubtedly, the ingenious scene in which Axton's wife disposes of several death-bent gremlins with the aid of various kitchen contrivances.

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