Criaturas

Jay and Helen Brown (Dee Wallace) live on their rural farm with their son Brad and teen daughter April. The town is invade by space critters which escaped from intergalactic prison. They are pursued by two space bounty hunters who took the shape of band members from a music video. Brad has an older friend in Charlie McFadden. April has boyfriend Steve (Billy Zane). Harv (M. Emmet Walsh) is the sheriff.

I really love critters, the space creatures. I also like the space bounty hunters. This is strictly B-movie with B-movie acting and story. It does have some notable performers but they're not asked to do great work. It's just fun to have these critters rolling around.

I saw this film for the first time as a kid on a coach on the way home from a holiday in France. I guess whoever was in charge figured all the kids would be asleep by the time they put this on, but I managed to stay awake and watch the lot, and Critters became a firm favourite of mine for the next few years. Despite seeing this film and the first two sequels several times as a kid, I could pretty much remember nothing about it when it came to watching it this time; and despite the fact that Critters is not quite the film I remember it being, this is still a fun little eighties crapfest with plenty to recommend it for! The plot focuses on a war in outer space that spills over onto a farm in a small mid-western town. The town unwittingly greet a meteorite, that later gives way to a host of nasty, furry little creatures with big teeth! Hot on their tails are a pair of intergalactic bounty hunters sent to track down the furballs - but the 'critters' get their first, and manage to cause quite a lot of damage before the bounty hunters eventually arrive...

Critters is clearly reminiscent of the 1984 hit Gremlins, as evidenced by the basics of the plot as well as the focus on humour. The critters themselves are hilarious little creations - thick black hair and a mouth full of teeth, but in their own way they're also fairly frightening! Gremlins isn't the only influence on this film - the whole idea of something bad coming from space being followed by something to stop it obviously came from The Terminator, and there are a number of other ideas taken from elsewhere - but the film doesn't feel like a bunch of stolen ideas, and that is to it's credit. The secluded farmyard setting is also to its credit, and again, while it's not the most original location for a film like this to take place, it works well so that isn't a problem. The cast, which includes the likes of M. Emmet Walsh, Dee Wallace and Billy Zane, all do their jobs well, and the action is always exciting enough to ensure that the film remains interesting. I won't say that this is a classic of the genre - but its good fun and I certainly recommend it.

Critters tries to be nothing more than good entertainment and simple fun and succeeds admirably at both. Decent acting, believable characters, and an engaging story prove once again you don't have to spend tons of money to make a good picture.

At the start of 'Critters', somewhere in space, 10 'Crites' are being brought to custody, but 8 of them escape, so that 2 hunters have to get them back. Now, this sequence could have easily lasted 10 minutes in any other movie, but 'Critters' doesn't waste time: it takes about one minute. There is no explanation what these Crites are exactly, who the hunters are, or why the're all going to earth. They just do. That way, all the fun happens on the earth. The Crites come to earth nearby a farm in the middle of nowhere (where else really), where they attack the family living there. The usual scenes of the kettle eaten, the silly police chief and the village idiot/drunk who warned everybody this was going to happen are all thrown in, but the movie never loses pace and is pretty funny all around, and not that gruesome either. A nice 80's horror flick, worth watching. 6/10.

Unfairly judged as a rip off of Gremlins from 1984, Critters should be thought of as a fun film taking all it can from the glorious peak of 50s sci-fi creature features. From the Critters themselves to every other character in the film, it shouts out as a colourised version of a 50s staple.

Critters escape from a space prison and head for another planet, Kansas {well OK then, Earth}, here they intend to eat every thing that gets in their way. The inhabitants of a small town don't know what has hit them, but aided by a couple of intergalactic bounty hunters, they fight back to hopefully rid their homes of the furry maniacal Critters.

Watching this is like watching a roll call for every stereotypical character ever put into a creature feature film. Cute kid who could be a hero, nice but dim farm hand, homely family with guts and verve, the sheriff who is just not gonna believe what is happening no matter what evidence is produced, and etc. Yet it works because they are homaging past masters, they aren't trying to kid anyone that it's a new idea, it's good fun that doesn't outstay its welcome.

The Critters are great, furry balls of fury with a shed load of teeth that are backed up by off the cuff subtitles to enthasize their grumblings. Genre babe Dee Wallace Stone gets to do her stuff, whilst M Emett Walsh has fun as sceptical sheriff Harv. It's not a classic genre piece by any stretch of the imagination, but it is fun {witness a delightful E.T. scene}, and I for one look forward to part two later in the week. 6.5/10