CREATURE FEATURE

A cute, furry little creature imported from a distant land multiplies into lots of nasty, furry little creatures that cause mayhem in a quaint American town.

Sounds like “Gremlins,” right?

Try “Munchies,” now being cut for Roger Corman’s New Horizon Pictures--and directed by Tina Hirsch, who just happens to have edited . . . “Gremlins.”

“It does sound kind of familiar, doesn’t it?” asked Hirsch of the “Munchies” story line.

In “Munchies,” well-meaning anthropologist Harvey Korman smuggles into the U.S. a stone Inca god (with Mohawk-like haircut) brought to life by lightning. When the anthropologist’s evil brother (also Korman) steals it for ransom, it reproduces and wreaks havoc in fast-food joints, video arcades, etc.

“It was meant to be similar” to “Gremlins,” Hirsch admitted. “It’s a successful new genre--the creature movie--and Roger wants to make successful movies.” But she promised that “Munchies” is “different enough” to surprise moviegoers, and “not as violent. It’s much more a comedy than a scare movie.”