It was quite the debut. Like Gremlins, Krampus is an appetizing mix of the tropes we expect from Christmas movies, mayhem, ...

They also planned to kill the dog. He didn't divulge many details, but the gremlins hang Barney the dog up in Christmas lights. You can piece together that the dog didn't survive. One may ask why ...

But wait. A little boy gets a cuddly Christmas present, but fails to follow the instructions - and lo! The household is invaded by multiplying scaly little devils who proceed to take over the ...

Unlike the lighter sequel, the original Gremlins opts for more black comedy, which is balanced against a Christmas-time setting. Both films were the center of large merchandising campaigns.