When the original Gremlins was first unleashed upon on an innocent, unsuspecting world, audiences discovered that inside every wide-eyed, impish, playful mogwai, is a mischevious, malevolent gremlin just waiting to be let out.

Six years after that film's runaway success, a new generation of America's most popular and cheer­fully wicked creatures returned in Gremlins 2 The New Batch, which takes an adventurous leap over many traditional formulas for sequels in pursuit of the wild, anarchic comedy conceived by returning Gremlins director Joe Dante and screenwriter Charlie Haas.

Times have changed for sweethearts Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) and Kate Beringer (Phoebe Cates), who have left their small hometown of Kingston Falls for New York City, where they have become lowly employees in Clamp Tower, a giant hi-tech highrise owned by Manhattan magnate Daniel Clamp (an inspired John Glover).

When their mogwai friend Gizmo reappears on the scene, Billy and Kate are reminded that the essential principles regarding their small charge remain the same: keep him away from water and bright lights, and, most importantly, never, ever feed him after midnight.

But Billy and Kate run into trouble almost immediately, and after a series of incidents creates a new and malicious gaggle of gremlins, Billy, Kate and Gizmo join forces to try and outwit the creatures who threaten to over­take Clamp Tower in a crisis of catastrophic proportions.

While Warner Bros. wanted Dante to get to work on a sequel to the first Gremlins film soon after it became a surprise hit and cultural flashpoint in the summer of 1984, the director needed a break from the intensive requirements of a Gremlins production. By the end of the 1980s, the studio enticed Dante back to the fold with an offer of creative control to create a sequel that would subvert expectations and play zany, often tongue-in-cheek fun with the outré concept of the first film. Gremlins 2 is a work of Dante's pure comic id and the heart of a man who grew up delighted by Looney Tunes animation and late night creature features.