With its Christmas lights and dusting of snow, Kingston Falls is an idyllic small town -- until the gremlins take over.

A father returns from Chinatown with an unusual pet, a Mogwai -- a gift for his son. The rules are simple: Keep your Mogwai away from water, bright lights and, most importantly, never -- never -- feed him after midnight. But the rules are inadvertently broken, and the consequences multiply at an alarming rate.