Critters is an undeniably enjoyable horror romp that exudes plenty of 80s charm and weirdness.
Following the success of 1984’s Gremlins, a wave of movies featuring small, creepy creatures hit theaters and video store shelves. Movies like Ghoulies, Munchies, and Hobgoblins. Combining comedy, horror, and compact-sized monsters much like Joe Dante’s blockbuster, these films were aimed at a younger audience than gory slasher films. While all of them owe Gremlins (and greed) for inspiration, Critters might be the best of the bunch.
Critters begins in outer space. Several members of an alien species called the Crites have escaped a prison planet. The Crites are wicked little creatures. They can roll from place to place, shoot poisonous, barbed projectiles from their backs, and have razor-teeth-lined mouths almost as big as their bodies. They also have a penchant for spouting one-liners (in subtitle form.) Two bounty hunters are dispatched to retrieve them.
The Crites’ spaceship crash lands outside a small Kansas town. The crash site is not far from a farm owned by the Browns: Jay (Billy Green Bush,) his wife, Helen (Dee Wallace Stone), son, Brad (Scott Grimes) and daughter, April (Nadine Van Der Velde.) Their home becomes a battleground as the family takes on the aliens as a group.
Soon, the bounty hunters show up. Possessing the ability to mimic the looks of anyone they see, one dons the visage of popular rocker, Johnny Steele (Terrance Mann). The other keeps switching between various townsfolk, like the reverend, a cop, and the town drunk. (I’m not sure why they can do this because they never use this ability for any particular reason. I guess because it’s funny to see the denizens of the town reacting to them.)
Critters was reportedly in development before Gremlins was released. As if to acknowledge a range of various influences, the script features multiple nods to several other popular movies. There are references to E.T., Ghostbusters, Star Wars, and Star Trek. Director Stephen Herek and writer Dominic Muir keep the tone light and the scares frequent as the Crites chew their way through Kansas. It’s a film made by people who were very aware of what it is and what it should be. As a result, it’s quite fun.
Despite a short running time, Critters takes a while to get moving. Most of the character development is comic relief, so it’s not painful by any means. It just takes time to get to the action. Unfortunately, once it really gets going, the movie is half over.
Although it’s not a film I’d recommend as a classic, Critters is an undeniably enjoyable horror romp that exudes plenty of 80s charm and weirdness.
3.5 out of 5.0 stars
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