Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

The Gremlins are back, and this time, they've taken control of a New York City media mogul's high-tech skyscraper.

A sequel that is better than the original ups the ante on action and mayhem, but with a tighter script and more inspired humor.

Halliwell**: "A sequel more entertaining than the original, stuffed with in-jokes for movie buffs."

Maltin***: "Not so much a horror film as a goofy sendup of itself, this sequel turns the slimy creatures loose in N.Y.C. Filled with gags, movie in-jokes, satiric barbs, and gratuitous cameo appearances. Glover is especially funny as a Domald Trump/Ted Turner type, and Lee is a delight as a genetic scientist. Be sure to stay with this through the closing credits."

Gremlins (1984)

A boy inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.

Quite original, over-the-top horror spoof  is lively and entertaining, over-abundant with in-joke details, but its black humor is childish most of the time.

Halliwell*: "Juvenile horror comic, a kind of deliberate inversion of E.T. Slow to start, and a little too knowingly nasty, with variable special effects; but a pretty hot commercial success."

Maltin**: "Comic nightmare is a cross between Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and THE BLOB; full of film-buff in-jokes, but negated by too-vivid violence and mayhem."

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)