Critters: A New Binge

"CRITTERS: A NEW BINGE" (2019, Rubin) is the Critters franchise's first series (although it amounts to a 69 minute run time) and the franchise's most zany, off-the-wall, action packed effort.

There is a lot of CGI in this but it adds to the hilarity and the Critter puppets are operated with that soulful spirit that drove the original four films; there are also copious amounts of them and their dialogue is gleefully entertaining.

The cast were all unexpectedly competent, the writing and directing effective, the music fitting, and the ending was direct and emotional.

I for one am happy to return to the Critters dining table after starving these past 27 years. If "CRITTERS" (1986, Herek) was the appetiser, "CRITTERS 2: THE MAIN COURSE" (1988, Garris) was what it said it was, "CRITTERS 3" (1991, Peterson) was a delicious dessert, and "CRITTERS 4" (1992, Harvey) was the brandy digestif, then "CRITTERS: A NEW BINGE" is a fun after dinner game, followed by the trip to the toilet that is "CRITTERS ATTACK!" (2019, Miller) (not in a terrible way, in a making room for more kind of way.).

I really enjoyed this. The gore is way less and I think even a child could watch this without getting even a bit scared (when I first watched Critters, I was very young and it really scared me).

Innocent fun and a nice homage to a great film classic.

One reason why Critters is a fairly forgotten saga is because as they released a new installment, the shine that the original film had began to fade little by little. With the announcement of a new installment by Warner Bros. And with the short film Critters: Bounty Hunter that was released in 2014, it was hoped that this could be corrected and that the saga would shine again in the best possible way. Thus came this miniseries that ended up generating a quite divisive effect. A New Binge started as a feature film at the beginning, but they decided to divide it into 8 short episodes and the truth is that it was not a good idea. Tying all the episodes together does not improve the situation. Here they decided to restart the saga with a different story and new characters. They kept some gore and ditched the horror to focus more on comedy. Although humor has become an essential part for the creatures of this saga, everything here is absurd humor. Instead of feeling like a good reboot, this miniseries is more of a Scary Movie-style parody of the saga. Although they respected the design of the creatures, it must be admitted that in this series the Critters look more fake than their original versions. The special effects are quite crappy and it shows that everything was done with a much lower budget than the last installments. Both the practical effects and the CGI look fake enough to think that this series was made more by young people making videos for YouTube and not by a professional studio. Although Critters 3 and Critters 4 are somewhat questionable, they had good creativity at some point. This series has no creativity, no wit. The story is mostly poorly executed without filling in some script holes and the story is quite absurd. The script is terrible with a terrible structure. Even when everything is discovered about the missing Critter that the others come to rescue, it is easy to notice that the plot is too ridiculous to be taken seriously. The only favorable thing about this series is that due to its ridiculousness, it is quite fun to watch. It is a series that manages to generate laughter, but because of how bad it is. It may be pleasant and fun for those who enjoy all the installments of the saga, but it will not be like that for someone in the average audience. It is not strange that this series has been quickly forgotten and has not managed to have a second season. Critters: A New Binge is undoubtedly the worst installment of the Critters franchise and a parody that failed to save it from oblivion. My final rating for this miniseries is a 5/10.

This was an amazingly great find on Shudder when it was available. Otherwise, it can be difficult to track down on streaming sites. It takes up after the original series was made and follows a family who is affected by the invading presence of the Critters. The acting by Joey Morgan, Thomas Lennon, and Gilbert Gottfried is a delight to watch during the series. It is hilarious and a wonderful casting selection that pushes as though in ode to the originals while still being groundbreaking in its own right. I haven't seen as funny of a horror series since Ash Versus the Evil Dead. The puppeteering for the Critters monsters was as sloppy as always, which makes it even more fun. Not high on scares, but one of the greatest comedy horror series, nonetheless. It's almost as good as the original Gremlins, but a little hokier.

This series is basically a short movie broken down into 8 parts of 10 minutes. Not sure why they did that...if they released this on a weekly format, the people would riot! It really captures the essence of the first movie, a monster film with humor. Even though the series looks like it was done with less then a shoe string budget...more like an IOU paper slips budget but the writing is very good, especially the Critter's dialog. It's hilarious...truly hilarious. It doesn't take itself seriously at all and it comes off as a goofy campy experience...brings back the nostalgia for sure.