Stephen Herek's CRITTERS was released in the summer of 1986 and was immediately jumped upon as a genuine pastiche of the old B-movie horrors of the 50s; but is it a good film?
An asteroid somewhere in outer-space is home, or prison, to some very nasty creatures who manage to escape when ... Read review
It's no picnic for the Brown family when a lethal litter of carnivorous aliens arrives ... more
unannounced at their Kansas farm. Trapped in a deadly nightmare, the terrified Browns fight for their lives against the attacking bloodthirsty monsters. But it's a l...
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When you've got Critters...you need all the help you can get! It's no picnic for the ... more
Brown family when a lethal litter of carnivorous aliens arrives unannounced at their Kansas farm. Trapped in a deadly nightmare the terrified Browns fight for their lives against the attacking bloodthirsty monsters. But it's a losing battle until two intergalactic bounty hunters arrive determined to blow the hellish creatures off the planet! It's an alien adventure full of action and just crawling with Critters!
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Advantages: Sometimes scary, sometimes funny Disadvantages: Cheap, nothing special
Stephen Herek's CRITTERS was released in the summer of 1986 and was immediately jumped upon as a genuine pastiche of the old B-movie horrors of the 50s; but is it a good film?
An asteroid somewhere in outer-space is home, or prison, to some very nasty creatures who manage to escape when they hijack a spaceship. They crash land on Earth, in a small American town, and soon start wreaking havoc amongst the community, first on a cow and ... ...entertainingly so. From the destructive critters terrorising the all-American family, to the two bumbling bounty hunters, to the outcast local always hearing aliens through the fillings of his teeth, I could happily ignore the film's cheapness for the eclecticism of it all, and I had none of the problems I usually have when sitting through horrors, that they're made purely for horror sake. Afterall, a horror that is scary is nothing particularly ... more
Stephen Herek's CRITTERS was released in the summer of 1986 and was immediately jumped upon as a genuine pastiche of the old B-movie horrors of the 50s; but is it a good film?
An asteroid somewhere in outer-space is home, or prison, to some very nasty creatures who manage to escape when they hijack a spaceship. They crash land on Earth, in a small American town, and soon start wreaking havoc amongst the community, first on a cow and then on a farm. Meanwhile, intergalactic police are on their trail. They send to Earth two bounty hunters who have the ability to morph into anything they see fit, one a famous rock star and the other of various disguises, to aid them in their hunt of the increasingly deadly critters.
I remember enjoying this low-budget film much more the first time round but, if truth be told, I still somewhat enjoyed it some years later. If by a genuine pastiche of the old B-movie horrors of the 50s they mean crudely directed, crudely written and crudely acted then I'd have to agree with them, whoever they are, because this quirky film is nothing if not crude; however entertainingly so. From the destructive critters terrorising the all-American family, to the two bumbling bounty hunters, to the outcast local always hearing aliens through the fillings of his teeth, I could happily ignore the film's cheapness for the eclecticism of it all, and I had none of the problems I usually have when sitting through horrors, that they're made purely for horror sake. Afterall, a horror that is scary is nothing particularly special, just like a comedy that is funny is nothing particularly special; a horror should be scary anyway and a comedy should be funny anyway. Indeed, I had less of a problem sitting through the tat of CRITTERS than I had sitting through some of the more popular horror films today simply because it is, unlike them, reassuringly humble. It knew it wouldn't have the originally of John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN or the metaphorical brilliance of David Cronenberg's THE FLY. It knew the best it could do was to entertain and it knew the best way to entertain was to take the best bits of the best films, including from the best horrors, and reconstruct something that wouldn't be original, certainly wouldn't be groundbreaking, and in result wouldn't take itself too seriously, which is the film's saving grace. CRITTERS is a poor film because it didn't try to be what it knew it couldn't be, and in effect this lack of ambition on the filmmakers part amounts to the many reasons why the film isn't a good one, why it isn't a good horror, but it is still hugely enjoyable anyway and with horrors being made now with nothing but horror, and comedies with nothing but comedy, I often like to watch something that isn't trying to be anything specifically than what it is: even if what that is, like CRITTERS, is escapist nonsense.
Advantages: a mix of sci-fi, horror and dark comedy Disadvantages: 1980s SPX and plot line is a little lacking
...first in the series of critters (4 movies of critters in total) with a cult follow and arguably the best of all 4.
Starts out with the prison asteroid maximum security transport carrying a payload of Critons or Critters which are to put onto another ship.
They just happen to escape get into a ship and head off straight to earth. The bounty track them down to town called Grovers Bend and try to kill the murderous critters. Most of the action is ... ...film boring.
The film is from the 1980 so uses reverse frames and other crony SPX the cars and clothing out dated which does detract me from fully immersing myself in the film.
Over all this film is great for people that are into Sci-fi films from the 1980s, with a bit of horror mixed in for good measure.
Has a mix of sci-fi, horror, killing and a bit of dark comedy
I have to say that the extra for the DVD are very poor though. The extras are ...
D03114380 28.03.2007
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Advantages: Great first film... Disadvantages: Picture quality, sound quality, acting, effects...
* iNTRODUCTIOn *
I remember watching the first Critters as movie as a kid and loving every minute of it's cheesy, scary plot so when i saw this on sale in HMV a couple of weeks back i decided to pick it up as i hadn't seen the 3 following sequels. For a supposed 'Ultimate Collectors Edition' this wasn't worth the 5 pounds 99 pence i paid for it which is a shame because it could have been good given a few decent extra's but that still wouldn't have made up for the 3 attrocious sequels. Critters was released back in 1986 and gained a decent appraisal from critics who hailed it a ''funny, scary gremlins rip off''. The Critters are little black, psychotic hedgehog looking things that shoot sharp needle point hair from their bodies as a weapon. As the original made a good ammount of money a sequel was quickly followed in 1988 which again ...
Advantages: Collection of four films, fun to watch, comedy horror, and a past-time. Disadvantages: NO special Features included, like commentary, and directors cut etc...
Critters 1 - 4 Box Set
Disk 1: Critters 1 - Creation of 1986 - 15 Rated - Running Time 86 Minutes
Director: Stephen Herek
Look out everyone! Because there's some new small fury carnivorous guests in town and they have got an appetite for blood, witty banter and a bad attitude. These small balls like creatures decide to make Kansas there domination, setting up on a farm owned by the Browne's family. Meanwhile, not so far away local drunk witnesses a spacecraft land, on inspection two intergalactic bounty hunters emerge, hell bent on destroying the critters and saving the world, they go on a mad rampage destroying any hiding pace, including the Browne's home with high powered weaponry. This movie is action packed, with some comical horror capers added, and filled with fury spike firing critter surprises.
Disk 2: Critters 2 ...
Advantages: Wonderful scenery, very factual, cute penguins Disadvantages: some sad moments
work and how they also had to brave the cold weather and the winter storms to place the cameras and make sure they were working so the footage could be filmed. I found this to be quite interesting.
The DVD which I have does have some bonus material which includes:-
Of Penguin and Men - Making the Documentary
National Geographic's Critter cam: Emperor Penguins
Classic Looney Tunes Cartoon 8 Ball Bunny
Theatrical Trailer.
Hubby did start to watch these and he says that they are well worth a watch if you can get them on your DVD but don't really pay much more for your copy just to get them as they don't really show much more footage then what is in the film.
The film was Produced by Yves Darondeau, Christopher Lioud and Emmanual Priou. It was Directed by Luc Jacquet. The running time of the film is 85 minutes which I feel is ...
On another planet in another galaxy, a breakout is underway in a top security prison, and several inhabitants of Death Row escape to the planet Earth. The razor-teethed critters must feed on flesh. Preferably human flesh...
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital Stereo Surround
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English<br>Dolby Digital Stereo Surround English
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DVD Description
On another planet in another galaxy, a breakout is underway in a top security prison, and several inhabitants of Death Row escape to the planet Earth. The razor-teethed critters must feed on flesh. Preferably human flesh...
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