CRITTERS (1986)
Maybe they're some government experiment gone haywire. They used to be gophers, but got zapped by some radioactive...
After GREMLINS a lot of people were making the point that
CRITTERS was trying to capitalize on the success of that flick, but outside of
the fact that both have small monsters in the, the similarities are pretty far
apart. In fact, the plot probably runs closer to NIGHT OF THE CREEPS than
GREMLINS. Anyway, a group of “Crites” steals a spaceship from another group of
aliens and that group hires bounty hunters to go kill them all. The Crites land
in Kansas and end up facing off against a kid who plays with firecrackers, his
dad, sister, and horror queen Dee Wallace (who plays Helen Brown). If you don’t
know Dee Wallace, she’s famous for being in THE HOWLING, E.T., THE FRIGHTENERS, etc.
The Crites are little creatures about the size of a basketball, they can stand upright or roll around on the ground whenever the special effects guys get lazy and decide to roll balls of fur around on set. Speaking of the effects, they are not good by any means, but at least the crew took time to make the critters pretty crazy looking. One really bad shortfall is a scene where a ceiling fan actually kills one of the critters, bloody hell. It seems if that was possible hitting them with rake handles and other objects would have also done the trick. Overall the concept is fun and the acting for this genre is actually more than adequate. Dee Wallace is pretty epic and even Billy Zane makes an appearance.
The movie does feel like it moves along a bit too quick, but it’s got every other element I would have wanted in a film like this. In spite of supposedly being a rip-off of GREMLINS, CRITTERS actually spawned 3 sequels whereas GREMLINS stopped after 2 installments. CRITTERS is currently being looked at by the SY FY Channel for a possible follow-up movie or series.
Anyway, critters rolling around killing and biting people isn’t the only thing we have going on here, the film also features some pretty awesome dialog and laughs. So if your thing is humor and horror, CRITTERS is a one-stop cheese fest. Right up my alley. I give CRITTERS a solid 6 out of 7. If you are having an 80’s horror movie marathon, this is one that’s worth getting on your list.
The Crites are little creatures about the size of a basketball, they can stand upright or roll around on the ground whenever the special effects guys get lazy and decide to roll balls of fur around on set. Speaking of the effects, they are not good by any means, but at least the crew took time to make the critters pretty crazy looking. One really bad shortfall is a scene where a ceiling fan actually kills one of the critters, bloody hell. It seems if that was possible hitting them with rake handles and other objects would have also done the trick. Overall the concept is fun and the acting for this genre is actually more than adequate. Dee Wallace is pretty epic and even Billy Zane makes an appearance.
The movie does feel like it moves along a bit too quick, but it’s got every other element I would have wanted in a film like this. In spite of supposedly being a rip-off of GREMLINS, CRITTERS actually spawned 3 sequels whereas GREMLINS stopped after 2 installments. CRITTERS is currently being looked at by the SY FY Channel for a possible follow-up movie or series.
Anyway, critters rolling around killing and biting people isn’t the only thing we have going on here, the film also features some pretty awesome dialog and laughs. So if your thing is humor and horror, CRITTERS is a one-stop cheese fest. Right up my alley. I give CRITTERS a solid 6 out of 7. If you are having an 80’s horror movie marathon, this is one that’s worth getting on your list.
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