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Review #31: 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%
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%
