Gremlin

---

(silence)

(orchestral music)

- I want you to know

that whatever happens,

I love you very much.

- I'm ready.

- Well, I'm not ready!

- I'm proud of you

for keeping it.

You didn't have to.

It was very brave of you.

(monster growling)

- Hello.

Come to me, you son of a b*tch!

(screaming)

(babbling)

(high pitched ringing)

(workers mumbling)

(television blaring)

- I'm home.

Hey Charlie.

- Breakfast for dinner!

- Hey.

How was your day?

- Busy.

- Need some help?

- No, I got it.

- Smells good.

You okay?

I've got some work to do tonight,

I'll be hooked up later.

- Yeah, sure.

- Dad?

- Yeah.

- Can you help me

finish my fort?

- No, I can't, man, I'll be

working on this all night.

- Please?

- I said no.

I'm sorry, I'll help you later.

After dinner, okay?

Hey!

Where are you going?

- Out.

- Gonna tell anybody?

- I just did.

- Come on, Charlie,

dinner's ready.

She's just going

through a phase.

I remember Julie being that

way when she was a little girl.

- Julie's different.

We're all different now.

I appreciate you, and

what you're doing here.

Mary, you don't understand.

- She loves you.

We all need you.

See, Anna's back already.

- Oh, James!

- Hi, Mom.

I brought you something.

- I haven't heard

from you in months.

Why won't you return my calls?

- I haven't been able to.

I'm sorry.

- Well, how is Lisa?

I'm worried about her.

- She's okay, Mom.

She's okay.

We wanted you to have this.

- Oh, well it's beautiful,

James, thank you.

Wow, what is it?

Where did you get this?

Is it a game?

- Yes, it is a game,

and I want you to play

it as soon as you can.

It's very simple,

all you have to do

is give the box to

someone you love.

Don't keep it, pass it along.

Do it before the timer runs out.

- What's wrong?

Why don't you come in

and have dinner with us.

Please.

It's been so long since

we've all been together.

- What?

All been together?

Who else is here?

- Julie, Adam, and the kids.

They moved in a

couple of weeks ago,

but they're still

moving in, actually.

- Oh my God.

Oh my God.

I've got to go.

Bye, Mom.

I'm sorry.

- Hurry up Mom!

- Hey, be patient.

- [Charlie] Hungry!

- Hi, Hungry, I'm Dad.

- [Charlie] Stop doing that!

- Stop mouthing off

to your mom, kid,

it'll get you in trouble.

- Hey Adam, will you grab the

orange juice and the butter?

- Sure.

Anything else?

- Maybe a more helpful attitude.

- I'll work on that.

- Was that Anna, Grandma?

- No, it was your uncle.

- [Julie] Uncle Jim?

- Yeah.

- I haven't seen him in forever.

- [Mary] I know.

- We have an extra seat,

and plenty of food.

- Well, he didn't want

to stay for dinner.

He was acting very strange.

- Jim was acting strange?

I don't believe it!

- But he gave me this box.

- [Julie] What is that?

- Well, I don't know,

but he said that I'm

supposed to give it

to someone that I love.

- Thanks.

It's weird.

- Adam, come on, off the table.

- Huh?

- Well, how about

school this morning?

(phone buzzing)

- Who was that?

- It was work.

- You know, I could get used

to your cooking dinners for us

like this every

night, sweetheart.

- Taste it first.

Dammit, Charlie!

- [Mary] Alright, it's alright.

- Adam, you scared him!

- Everybody calm

down, calm down.

- [Adam] I'm calm!

- [Julie] What is your problem?

- [Mary] I'll get

something to clean it up.

- It's no big deal.

I'm calm.

- Grandma, I'll get it.

- I'm so ready to

get out of there.

- Are your parents

fighting again?

- They're always fighting.

I don't really give

a sh*t anymore,

but I know it bothers Charlie.

- Yeah, well...

My dad can be kind

of a dick, too.

- You won't be like

that when you're a dad?

- Well, jeez, what the

hell are you talking about?

Sorry, I'm just not really

thinking that far ahead.

Hey.

You need to have some fun.

So, we can go to

Jake's party, or...

We can just hang here.

Whatever you want.

- I'm pregnant.

- Wait, what?

Are you serious?

Who's the father?

Oh sh*t.

Oh God, did you double check it?

I don't know, it

could be defective.

Johnny ate a poppy seed muffin

the night before he had to

take a random drug test at work

and he tested

positive for opiates.

Did you eat any

muffins last night?

(phone buzzing)

I can't be a dad!

My dad's gonna kill me.

- Yeah.

Mine too.

- She's not answering.

- She'll come home,

she always does.

It's late, you should

go to sleep, please.

- [Julie] Did you

lock the front door?

- [Adam] I think I left it open.

- [Julie] I'm gonna go check.

(screaming)

- [Adam] What is it?

- I had a bad dream.

- It's okay, baby, come here.

- Go back to sleep.

- Can I sleep in here with you?

- Go back to sleep.

- Remember, we're practicing

staying in your room, yeah?

Okay, goodnight.

(television blaring)

- Call me crazy, but I'm pretty

sure your room is that way.

Sleep good, kiddo.

(coughing)

(monster squalling)

- Mom!

- Okay.

So, what time did this happen?

- Around midnight.

We were sleeping.

- We heard her in her room,

and we found her

like that in her bed,

just as you did.

- And your daughter?

- Anna.

- Yes, Anna.

Where was she last night.

- We don't know.

She's got a boyfriend,

we haven't been able to

get a hold of her yet.

- We've been having some

issues with her recently.

- Would she have any

reason for wanting

to hurt your grandmother?

- No, of course not.

- Is that a normal

question, detective?

Or do you think my

16 year old daughter

killed her great grandmother?

- We found a puncture

wound on her chest,

consistent with a stabbing.

This is all so confusing.

There's no evidence of a

struggle, no defensive wounds,

no signs of forced entry.

- I don't want to

stay here, Adam.

- [Detective] That's

completely up to you.

We swept the are

and found nothing.

- If he says it's

safe, it's safe, okay?

It'd be better for

Charlie to stay put.

The place looks fine.

- No, I don't want to be

in this house right now.

- Okay.

- That's perfectly fine.

Again, thank you for your time.

I'll be in touch if I have

any further questions.

- The little monster did it.

- The little monster?

- It killed Grandma and

ran back into that box.

- He was saying that last night.

- He's got an imagination.

Since his brother passed away,

he has some trouble

with reality.

- Well, what happened?

- Does that have any bearing

on this case, detective?

- Charlie, I've been

doing this a long time,

and I've seen my fair

share of monsters.

If a monster did kill your

grandma, I'll catch him.

I always do.

Again, I'm sorry for your loss.

- Anna, you need to call me.

This is serious.

You need to come home.

I've called her,

I've texted her.

She's not responding.

This is getting

really old, Adam.

- Could lock her

in the basement.

Maybe.

Hey.

Come here.

She's gonna be okay.

Alright?

(phone buzzing)

(doorbell ringing)

- Adam, there's someone

from your office.

- Natalie.

- Natalie.

- Oh, hey, how are you?

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