Critters 3

The DVD-cover suggests that - following two episodes set in the remote Kansas countryside area - the Krites will now be spreading fear and terror in the big city, but the truth is they never get any further than running amok in a ramshackle old apartment building and frightening a handful of its tenants. Part three in the series is an okay time-waster, but very forgettable and obviously lacking the joyous and charming spirit of the first two films. It sometimes seems that, with entering the 1990's, it suddenly became impossible to make cheesy & light-headed horror like they did in the 1980's. Oh well, at least number three is still a dozen times better than the truly awful fourth installment, which was shot back-to-back with this one and takes place in outer space. "Critters 3" particularly marks the further and irreversible descent of the franchise into comical territory. Mainly due to the eccentric design of the monsters – courtesy of the amazing Chiodo Brothers – the series bathes in a light-headed and silly atmosphere, but the two previous films nevertheless found a better balance between the comedy aspects and genuine horror. Here, the little supposedly ravenous and evil creatures almost look like tiny stand up comedians. They giggle non-stop, eat beans and fart, watching cooking programs on TV and entertain themselves with food fights. Meanwhile, a bizarre posse of low-keyed tenants (among them THE Leonardo DiCaprio in his very first long-feature film) attempt to escape the Critter-terror through fleeing to the roof. Why they just don't go out via the front door, I don't know… Don Opper reprises his role as bounty hunter Charlie, and he seems to get more imbecilic with every episode. I don't really feel like mocking DiCaprio's appearance because, in all honesty, he gives a good performance and depicts a likable teenage character.

A young family stop off at a lay-by on their way home. At the lay-by they meet bounty hunter Charlie who warns them about something living in the woods. However that `something' has just attached it self under their mobile home and hitches a ride back to their tenement block where the critters cause havoc amongst the residents.

Lets be honest – no one say to be shocked to discover this is a cheap little film that doesn't have too much going for it. The plot is the usual – people hunted by critters – stuff, this time in a building so it's like Die Hard with aliens….err no! The story doesn't matter as the action is what counts.

Sadly the action is poor – it's not really gory and the critter attacks are always more funny than thrilling. There is no real excitement or tension and it's all a bit predictable – take a guess who'll live and who'll die – the cute kids or the evil landlord? See! The one thing it does have though is a sort of humour – the critters have senses of humours and are cruel and some of this is amusing.

However the comedy is nowhere near the one it aspires to – Gremlins, and really the funniest bit is how silly the whole thing is. Needless to say the acting is poor – some people can't even be mauled convincingly. But it's interesting to see DiCaprio's debut, even if he looks about 9 years old!

Really this is a bit of dumb fun that is daft and slightly shoddy. It's may just pass the time but there are much better horror/comedies out there if you want them.

The effects were still great, the acting worked, and I liked the characters... but it was missing something.I don't know what but it was. I still recommend it of course and I decently enjoyed it. Critters 3 was not as much horror and more funny but it still worked. The critter effects have slightly changed but still basically the same. The critters are now more slimy and darker in color. It was great to see Charlie return again Leonardo DiCaprio did a great job in his role as Josh. Having a critter main protagonist was interesting and fun, and I liked the development in the other critter's characters also. It was very slightly off beat but fun to watch and entertaining. To sum it all up it was not as good as #2 but stayed true to the original.

Okay I was a big fan of the first Critters movie. In fact I love it with a passion, but the sequels are bad. This one isn't the worst. I would have to say that this is the best sequel that came out of the series. Plays more of a comedy than a Science Fiction-Horror flick but hey what are you going to do?

In case you don't know, 'Critters 3' is best known for being the first ever film to feature Leonardo DiCaprio. Here, he plays a kid who is a kid. Then, forever after, he was destined to play an adult who looks like a kid. But then that's just me being bitter at his seeming inability to age.

Anyway, if you haven't seen 'Critters 3' then you might want to start with the first two, as they're arguably better and, well, chronology and all that. The Critters are little alien monsters who crash-landed on Earth and generally eat everyone and everything – or rather everyone and everything who isn't one of the lead cast. These baddies tend to only eat people you won't really care about. Or at least they certainly do now! I haven't seen another monster/slasher film where the villains do so little damage to so few people. If the Critters franchise was ever really classed as 'horror' (which it wasn't really – it was more only every horror with a spoonful of comedy). Now, it really is played out tongue-in-cheek with no real attempts to scare you. The Critters roll and bounce around the place, bumping into things and come across more like Mr Bean with bigger teeth than anything that really threatens humankind.

Critters 3 is a short film. And for good reason. There really isn't that much in the way of plot to fill it. You get the little monsters brought back from the countryside into a big city. You'd think that with the added number of human-prey this would make a change from the farm-country the previous two were set in. However, the whole film is basically set in one apartment block. And, for some reason, no one (Critter or human) ever really seems to make much of a play to leave the building. You could argue that this creates an air of tension and claustrophobia. But it doesn't. It's just a cheap continuation of the franchise.

Yes, I know I'm being kind of negative. And this is yet another step down for the franchise. But that's not to say that I didn't find some enjoyment in it. The Critters themselves – one again – are the real stars and, for all their 'prat-falls' they're still quite fun to watch.

If you like your eighties monster-horror films then you're probably best off sticking to the first one (which most people seem to think is best, personally, I preferred part 2, but anyway...). However, if you REALLY like the Critters and want to see more of them, you can try this – it's the sort of film where you can surf the net and watch it at the same time and still miss much. Plus, did I mention it had baby-faced Leo in it? He's being chased my fur-balls – c'mon, that's got to be worth watching, right?