Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Director: Joe Dante

Producer: Joe Dante

1990 / 106min / 35mm

Dante’s follow-up to his 1984 slapstick-horror blockbuster finds Billy and Kate (Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates) having left Kingston Falls behind for Manhattan, both now employed at the “Clamp Center,” the showpiece skyscraper of billionaire developer Daniel Clamp (played with decidedly Trumpian flair by a scenery-chewing John Glover), when the adorable mogwai Gizmo comes back into their lives—and with him some rather less cuddly gremlins, now in a motley collection of genetically modified varietals. A nonstop barrage of anarchic, Looney Tunes-inspired gags (including animated contributions from Chuck Jones himself), virtuoso practical FX by Rick Baker, and inventive splatter, all marching to the tune of Jerry Goldsmith’s relentless, Raymond Scott-esque theme.