black comedy   bar   christmas   family relationships   suburbia   cult comedy   cult director   small town   department store   bank   mother   record player   stop motion   psychotronic   young love   boyfriend girlfriend relationship   christmas tree   urban legend   product placement   exploding building   blockbuster   car trouble   chainsaw   rampage   inventor   gift   social commentary   animal cruelty   gadget   flasher   pet   mass destruction   candy bar   puppet   crossbow   holiday horror   snowman   fire alarm   shopkeeper   chinatown   toy car   horror for kids   bank teller   broken rule   microwave   midnight   slingshot   swimming baths   skunk   microwave oven   science teacher   christmas horror   gremlin   negative asian stereotype   reference to marc anthony and pussyfoot   reference to pepe le pew   reference to sylvester the cat   young men's christian association   salespeople   friendship   dog   cult favorite   movie theater   spoof   creature   one word title   fountain   monster   voice over narration   unlikely hero   animal in cast credits   transformation   title spoken by character   swimming pool   snowplow