In 'Gremlins', a young man is given a strange, adorable creature called a Mogwai for Christmas. However, he breaks the three important rules of pet ownership, inadvertently causing more Mogwais to spawn and transform into destructive gremlins that wreak havoc on his small town.
Joe Dante weaponizes cuteness, letting anarchic little monsters trash a Norman Rockwell Christmas. Mischief and menace in the same breath.