10 Horror Movies That Embarrassed Other Movies Released At The Same Time

Nobody likes a copycat at the best of times, but Gremlins was pulling double-duty when it had to fend off multiple claims to its crown within the first year and a half of release.

Everyone by now is surely familiar with Gizmo, Stripe and the murderous, madcap antics of the titular monsters that befall the town of Kingston Falls in Joe Dante's anti-Christmas horror-comedy Gremlins (fittingly released during summer 1984). But not so many know its competition.

First came Ghoulies, in January 1985. Directed by Luca Bercovici, the film concerns itself with the conjuring of pint-size monsters called Ghoulies in a suburban basement. Unsurprisingly, there are both little scaly green creatures and little hairy brown creatures, which cause devastation to the neighbourhood. Whether it is a copy of not, it treads the Gremlins path, and the Ghoulies production was actually sued by Warner Bros. to stop them using the same name.

Thereafter, in 1986, followed Critters. The plot charts the antics of a group of furry little aliens who land in small-town USA and proceed to tear it apart at the seams. But director Stephen Herek's gamble on such similar subject matter came back to bite him and he has spent most of his career refuting claims that his feature ripped off Dante's.

Alas, there's nothing like the true original, which balances bloody horror, xmas cheer and an infinitely merchandisable, heartwarming lil mogwai. Whatever Ghoulies and Critters have going for them wilts under the commercial and emotional powers of Gizmo.