People didn't get Gremlins 2: The New Batch when it was released in the summer of 1990, six years and a week after its blockbusting predecessor. It grossed less than a third of the original's box-office take ($41.4 million versus Gremlins' $148.1 million). Horror-hater Roger Ebert, who actually liked Gremlins and gave it three stars, gave Gremlins 2 two and a half and wearily wrote, "[Gremlins] was a superior B movie and a lot of fun. Gremlins 2 The New Batch is a meditation on sequels and, like most sequels, it's a faded imitation of the original." Its IMDb score (6.1) is a whole point behind Gremlins' (7.1).