Review #75: Critters Franchise (with a re-run of my earlier Review# 31: Critters).
Critters
Low budget horror flick that was part of the 1980s Puppet Creature Feature market. Other favourites include Troll, Ghoulies, Gremlins and Munchies.
A handful of tennis ball sized aliens known as ‘Crites’, who have escaped from their space prison, crash land on earth just outside a small town called Grover’s Bend.
They then make their way to the nearest farm (owned by the ‘Brown’ family) and cause them a whole night of havoc and terror. Hot on their trail though are two Intergalactic Bounty Hunters.
Upon eating various farm animals and the occasional person too, the Critters start growing in size and become a more formidable foe.
It’s a brilliantly made movie that uses the ‘people trapped in house’ plot as it’s basis.
The movie also heads out into the town too when the Bounty Hunters arrive and the ‘fish out of water’ premise is utilised when they can’t seem to find the Crites and the town’s folk don’t take them seriously.
There are elements of all sorts of genres too. Many regard the movie as either sci-fi or horror.
It’s actually a modge of all sorts: Tongue in cheek comedy, gory horror, shocker, claustrophobic haunted house style and sci-fi.
It mixes all the elements really well too.
I wouldn’t say the shooting style is any better than any other movie of it’s type but it’s very well put together in terms of action, shocks and acting.
Scream-Queen Dee Wallace Stone and Billy Green Bush as the wife and husband Heads of the Brown family are very well played by both. They have an on-screen chemistry and a homely comfortableness about them.
Nadine Van Der Velde as the daughter is spot on as the teenage daughter and beautiful Damsel in distress (sort of).
Billy Zane makes his second ever movie appearance as Nadine Van Der Velde’s new squeeze. Being that he’s on screen for a short time, he’s actually a memorable character.
Scott Grimes plays the main part of the cast as the youngest of the family. Even at such a young age Grimes really shines in the role as the mischievous scamp who’s got an old soul about him. You knew even back then that Grimes has a long career ahead of him.
The effects of the movie are a touch dated by today’s standard but they work with the low budget shooting style of the film really well.
The characters too are well realised, especially the Crites (who are also ''puppeted' brilliantly too) and the Bounty Hunters are brilliantly original.
The only thing that lets the movie down is the pretty weak writing for the ending, but for budget constraints and the feel of the movie, it does
kind of work.
All in all it’s a funny, shocking, mildly gory but relatively standard sci-fi-comedy-horror and is a
very close runner up to Gremlins in the Creature Feature genre.
My rating 89%
Critters 2: The Main Course
Once again Grover's Bend is attacked by the vicious, hungry little creatures. This time, some eggs left behind from the first movie have hatched just as Brad Brown returns to his home town, 2 years after the events of the first movie.
This time round, the Bounty Hunters have also returned and have brought Charlie back with them too.
The movie is definitely a product of bad writing and production.
It tries to be bigger than the first film in the action stakes and expands the overall event to the entire town, rather than the 'trapped in house' horror that the first film made so well.
You might think it would be a good thing to do this, if it were simply a re-run of the first film's plot it would simply be a cash in sequel.
Sadly though, the wooden acting, childlike writing and the dropping of the horror genre for a more comedy orientated basis make for a very poor night in with a DVD.
Many of the original ideas from the first film have also been dropped. There's no continuity in the sequel.
There are also massive plot holes in regard to the town's folk when they refer to the events of the original movie.
The puppetry is one good point. They're brilliantly modelled yet feel different to the first movie in the way they 'act'.
The overall effects though aren't improved from the first. If anything, they're worse.
All in all, a terrible sequel to a cracking little build up.
My rating 15%
Critters 3
After hitching a ride on the underside of a family's truck, the malicious little monsters find themselves inside the family's crummy apartment block in the city, surrounded by various disparate residents of the apartments.
It's up to the residents to find a way to hide and fight and find a way to save themselves.
Charlie once again shows up to aid the hapless victims.
It's a better film than the second movie. The writing feels as though more time has been taken and the plot is a little closer to the first film with the claustrophobic 'haunted house' genre.
The acting is another plus point. Though cheesy at times and wooden on occasion, it's far better than the second film.
There is a nice subplot with the main family though. It's a broken home storyline with Dad, Daughter and Son having to reconcile their differences.
Bit part actress Frances Bay makes a nice appearance as an elderly lady in the block.
Leonardo Di Caprio makes his feature film debut too. He's certainly at his usual. His acting is exactly the same as modern day.
The creatures look has been altered for this film too. They're more cartoony and feel more viewer friendly, almost as if the filmmakers were trying to appeal to a younger audience, though with the plot and writing being the way it is, I'm not sure it's right for kids.
Bit of a miss affair really to do that.
Another bad point though is the constant background music, like the kind you find in a TV movie. It's badly written and even in the quieter scenes, it's still
very prominent.
All in all it's a vast improvment on the awful second movie but nowhere near the original.
My rating 55%
Critters 4
Charlie has found himself frozen in suspended animation with a bunch of Crite eggs by his side. When he is awakened from his slumber, many years have passed and he finds himself in space, on a salvage ship with a small crew.
The eggs of course have hatched and it's up to Charlie to explain to the crew what's going on and help find a way to survive.
This is the final nail in the Critters coffin. After the third film's improvement over the second film, this one for some reason decided to go for full on comedy mixed with bad humour, cliche plotlines, gimmicky ideas and terrible acting.
The movie as a whole feels very much like
Jason X with the hammy/wooden/talentless acting and the plot setting. The writing and effects feel like an extremely low budgetted TV movie too.
What makes the movie almost watchable though is that it
knows it's terrible.
The filmmakers excel in utilising the fact that their movie is a complete pile and it actually makes for an entertaining, tongue in cheek,
knowingly bad sci-fi.
Brad Douriff is about the best part of it all though. He's cheesy and at his usual self.
All in all, it's knowingly bad but still relatively entertaining because of this. Nowhere near as good as the third or the original, but still better than the second film.
My rating 30%