Joseph James Dante Jr. (born November 28, 1946) is an American film director, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably Gremlins (1984) - often mix 1950s style b-movies with cartoon comedy.
Dante's films also include Piranha (1978), The Howling (1981), Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), The 'Burbs (1989), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Matinee (1993), Small Soldiers (1998), and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). His work for television and cable includes immigration satire The Second Civil War (1997) and episodes of anthology series Masters of Horror ("Homecoming" and "The Screwfly Solution") and Amazing Stories, as well as Hawaii Five-0.