Movie Smarts

Gremlins Quiz: Handle These Questions with Care

You have seen the movie. Now see how much of it you can bring back.

Published 2026-10-24 Updated 2026-10-24 15 questions

Gremlins: The Pet Came With Instructions for a Reason

A father brings home an unusual gift that seems like the perfect little companion. Unfortunately, looking after it involves a few rules that turn out to be much more serious than normal pet advice. A small town soon fills with unwelcome visitors who have no respect for furniture, safety, or a quiet evening. Cute is still part of the picture, but it is no longer the main problem.

Read every choice. Skipping instructions has already gone badly here.

1. Who directed Gremlins?
- John Landis
- Robert Zemeckis
- Steven Spielberg
- Joe Dante
Dante came up through Roger Corman's company with Piranha and The Howling, so the mayhem is played for laughs as much as scares. Spielberg produced, and complaints about the violence under a PG rating helped bring in the PG-13 rating that same summer.
2. Who wrote the screenplay?
- Joe Dante
- Chris Columbus
- Shane Black
- John Hughes
Columbus wrote it as a sample script to show what he could do, drawing on the sound of mice scurrying around his loft at night. Spielberg bought it, and Columbus went on to write The Goonies and direct Home Alone.
3. What is the adorable creature's name?
- Gizmo
- Stripe
- Daffy
- Furball
Rand names him, and in Chris Columbus's original script the cuddly pet turned into the chief villain partway through. Spielberg vetoed that, reasoning that children would want the cute one to stay cute, so a separate bad mogwai was written in.
4. What kind of creature is Gizmo?
- A goblin
- A gremlin pup
- A mogwai
- A kobold
Mr. Wing, the shopkeeper in Chinatown, refuses to sell him at all, and his grandson does the deal behind the old man's back for a wad of cash. The word is roughly Cantonese for a demon, and the three rules come with him.
5. Who receives Gizmo as a gift?
- Pete Fountaine
- Gerald Hopkins
- Billy Peltzer
- Rand Peltzer
Billy works at the town bank, draws comics on the side and gets Gizmo as an early Christmas present from his father. Zach Galligan, a newcomer, plays him and was cast after Spielberg saw him with Phoebe Cates in an audition.
6. After the kitchen battle, where does the surviving gremlin dive in to spawn an army?
- The YMCA swimming pool
- The town fountain
- A water tower
- The frozen river
Billy chases him out of the house and into the YMCA, where the gremlin grins at him before taking the plunge and the pool begins to boil with new arrivals. By nightfall the whole town is overrun.
7. Who plays Kate?
- Lea Thompson
- Phoebe Cates
- Molly Ringwald
- Ally Sheedy
Cates was best known for Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and her big moment is a straight-faced monologue about how her father died dressed as Santa, stuck in the chimney. The studio wanted it cut and Dante kept it.
8. What happens when Gizmo gets wet?
- He turns to stone
- He produces more mogwai
- He becomes invisible
- He loses his voice
The first dousing happens when Billy's friend Pete knocks a jar of water over Gizmo's back, and five furry balls pop out and grow into new mogwai. Gizmo squeals in pain the whole time, which is the first hint that this is not good news.
9. What feeding rule must not be broken?
- Do not feed them during rain
- Do not feed them before dawn
- Do not feed them after sunset
- Do not feed them after midnight
The new mogwai trick Billy by chewing through the cord of his bedside clock so it reads before midnight, and the chicken he feeds them turns them into cocoons. The pods hatch into the scaly gremlins, and the film never says when 'after midnight' ends.
10. What kind of light can kill the creatures?
- Sunlight
- A flashlight beam
- Candlelight
- Moonlight
Bright light hurts them and sunlight kills them outright, which is why they spend the night wrecking the town and go to ground by day. Their leader melts in the department store when Gizmo opens a blind and sunlight hits the fountain he is hiding in.
11. What is the leader of the nasty group called?
- Spike
- Grit
- Claw
- Stripe
Stripe is the one with the white mohawk, and he leads the escape from the Peltzer house. He survives the cinema explosion because he is across the street in the department store buying candy, and meets his end in its garden department.
12. What is Billy's father's occupation?
- Toy-store manager
- Dentist
- Inventor
- Police officer
Rand sells his gadgets on the road, the Bathroom Buddy and the Smokeless Ashtray among them, and none of them quite work, which the film treats as a running gag. Hoyt Axton, the country singer who plays him, also narrates the opening and closing.
13. What is the town called?
- Twin Peaks
- Hill Valley
- Kingston Falls
- Bedford Ridge
The town square is Universal's Courthouse Square backlot dressed in snow, and the same set became Hill Valley in Back to the Future the following year. The name nods to Bedford Falls from It's a Wonderful Life, which is playing on the Peltzers' television.
14. Which Disney movie do the gremlins watch at the cinema?
- Fantasia
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Pinocchio
- Dumbo
The gremlins pack the town cinema and sing along with Heigh-Ho while Billy and Kate sneak in and rig the gas to blow the place up. Disney allowed the footage, and the joke is that these little monsters adore the one about seven small men.
15. Who provides Gizmo's voice?
- Mel Blanc
- Frank Welker
- Jim Henson
- Howie Mandel
Mandel was a stand-up and a regular on St. Elsewhere, and recorded Gizmo's squeaks and the odd word of English, like the 'bright light' warning. Frank Welker, the cartoon voice veteran, did Stripe and most of the other gremlins instead.

All the answers

1. Who directed Gremlins?

Joe Dante

Dante came up through Roger Corman's company with Piranha and The Howling, so the mayhem is played for laughs as much as scares. Spielberg produced, and complaints about the violence under a PG rating helped bring in the PG-13 rating that same summer.
2. Who wrote the screenplay?

Chris Columbus

Columbus wrote it as a sample script to show what he could do, drawing on the sound of mice scurrying around his loft at night. Spielberg bought it, and Columbus went on to write The Goonies and direct Home Alone.
3. What is the adorable creature's name?

Gizmo

Rand names him, and in Chris Columbus's original script the cuddly pet turned into the chief villain partway through. Spielberg vetoed that, reasoning that children would want the cute one to stay cute, so a separate bad mogwai was written in.
4. What kind of creature is Gizmo?

A mogwai

Mr. Wing, the shopkeeper in Chinatown, refuses to sell him at all, and his grandson does the deal behind the old man's back for a wad of cash. The word is roughly Cantonese for a demon, and the three rules come with him.
5. Who receives Gizmo as a gift?

Billy Peltzer

Billy works at the town bank, draws comics on the side and gets Gizmo as an early Christmas present from his father. Zach Galligan, a newcomer, plays him and was cast after Spielberg saw him with Phoebe Cates in an audition.
6. After the kitchen battle, where does the surviving gremlin dive in to spawn an army?

The YMCA swimming pool

Billy chases him out of the house and into the YMCA, where the gremlin grins at him before taking the plunge and the pool begins to boil with new arrivals. By nightfall the whole town is overrun.
7. Who plays Kate?

Phoebe Cates

Cates was best known for Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and her big moment is a straight-faced monologue about how her father died dressed as Santa, stuck in the chimney. The studio wanted it cut and Dante kept it.
8. What happens when Gizmo gets wet?

He produces more mogwai

The first dousing happens when Billy's friend Pete knocks a jar of water over Gizmo's back, and five furry balls pop out and grow into new mogwai. Gizmo squeals in pain the whole time, which is the first hint that this is not good news.
9. What feeding rule must not be broken?

Do not feed them after midnight

The new mogwai trick Billy by chewing through the cord of his bedside clock so it reads before midnight, and the chicken he feeds them turns them into cocoons. The pods hatch into the scaly gremlins, and the film never says when 'after midnight' ends.
10. What kind of light can kill the creatures?

Sunlight

Bright light hurts them and sunlight kills them outright, which is why they spend the night wrecking the town and go to ground by day. Their leader melts in the department store when Gizmo opens a blind and sunlight hits the fountain he is hiding in.
11. What is the leader of the nasty group called?

Stripe

Stripe is the one with the white mohawk, and he leads the escape from the Peltzer house. He survives the cinema explosion because he is across the street in the department store buying candy, and meets his end in its garden department.
12. What is Billy's father's occupation?

Inventor

Rand sells his gadgets on the road, the Bathroom Buddy and the Smokeless Ashtray among them, and none of them quite work, which the film treats as a running gag. Hoyt Axton, the country singer who plays him, also narrates the opening and closing.
13. What is the town called?

Kingston Falls

The town square is Universal's Courthouse Square backlot dressed in snow, and the same set became Hill Valley in Back to the Future the following year. The name nods to Bedford Falls from It's a Wonderful Life, which is playing on the Peltzers' television.
14. Which Disney movie do the gremlins watch at the cinema?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The gremlins pack the town cinema and sing along with Heigh-Ho while Billy and Kate sneak in and rig the gas to blow the place up. Disney allowed the footage, and the joke is that these little monsters adore the one about seven small men.
15. Who provides Gizmo's voice?

Howie Mandel

Mandel was a stand-up and a regular on St. Elsewhere, and recorded Gizmo's squeaks and the odd word of English, like the 'bright light' warning. Frank Welker, the cartoon voice veteran, did Stripe and most of the other gremlins instead.