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Critters

Play trailer Poster for Critters PG-13 1986 1h 24m Horror Sci-Fi Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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52% Tomatometer 50 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
When strange fuzzy creatures from outer space arrive on a farm, the Brown family -- Jay (Billy Green Bush), Helen (Dee Wallace-Stone), their daughter, April (Nadine Van Der Velde), and their son, Brad (Scott Grimes) -- must fend off the malevolent little aliens. Two bounty hunters with superhuman abilities follow the aggressive beasts from beyond, but the warriors aren't terribly effective, leaving the Brown family to battle the fur balls and rescue April from their clutches all by themselves.
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Critters

Critters

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Critics Consensus

While Critters ekes out some fun from a game cast and screwball tone, the titular monsters fail to deliver the credible menace that makes a creature feature satisfying.

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Critics Reviews

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Kim Newman Empire Magazine The lead monsters are sort of endearingly nasty and the movie has fun with its small town setting, but the film is perhaps a little too derivative to pass muster with the best of retro-chic [science fiction]. Rated: 3/5 Oct 28, 2021 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Critters resemble oversize hairballs and roll like tumbleweeds when prodded into action, the perfect menace for this irritatingly insipid and lightweight film which unfolds with plodding predictability and leaves few cliches unturned. Oct 28, 2021 Full Review Alexander Walker London Evening Standard It's so pitifully plain that the budget won't stretch to showing bigger Critters that the pathetic effect becomes laughable. Oct 27, 2021 Full Review Joe Lipsett Horror Queers Podcast More than a ripoff of Gremlins, Critters is a fun, Amblin-esque family adventure with plenty of amusing sequences and extremely memorable titular creature design, though at times the events at the farm and in the town feel disconnected Rated: 3.5/5 Sep 4, 2024 Full Review Trace Thurman Horror Queers Podcast Charming gateway horror film in which the human characters somehow manage to outshine the titular alien furballs. Rated: 3.5/5 Sep 2, 2024 Full Review Philip French Observer (UK) Gremlins does exist and Critters is simply a drive-in exploitation version of it, likable in a blue-chin, blue-collar way, but lacking the original's moral and magical qualities. Oct 27, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Johnathon W Fun science fiction/horror/comedy thanks a solid cast and fantastic creatures from the Chiodo Brothers. The cast is solid but nothing special, obviously having fun with the premise. Behind the camera, director Stephen Herek directs a breezy film at a brisk 90 minutes, having fun with the premise of mischievous aliens. The real stars are the Critters, brilliantly designed by the Chiodo Brothers, who manage to be both cute and menacing, whether rolling around like furballs or shooting poisonous quills. The stroke of genius is providing sub-titles for their speech to hilarious effect. Is it a perfect film, no, but it is a fun one. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/01/24 Full Review Jay H Neat little monster movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/08/24 Full Review Aiden M If you are looking for a funny, goofy, cult classic horror movie the I would recommend the critters. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/22/24 Full Review Jonathan O We've already meet Gremlins in 1984 but now we've got Gremlins like creatures from space who loves to make chaos and mayhem and eating everything and killing people and I had really a blast is really hilarious sci-fi horror comedy and spectacular creature effects. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/20/24 Full Review Robson C Um grupo de criaturas espaciais fogem da prisão onde estavam e vem para a Terra, prontos a devorar tudo, ameaçando uma família. Para combatê-los, dois caçadores de recompensas são enviados. Depois do sucesso de Gremlins, é claro que haveria cópias e esta franquia talvez foi a que teve mais sucesso. As criaturas têm o mesmo humor e maldade dos gremlins. A principal diferença seria que não existem as regras, além de que o único intento desses seres é devorar tudo que vive e existe. Mesmo sendo um filme B, há bons efeitos especiais, principalmente os práticos, dando vida e movimentação aos pequenos seres espaciais. Com isso, nós temos o típico roteiro anos 80, com aqueles personagens estereotipados. O elenco é competente e dá conta do recado, com nomes já conhecidos. Porém, acho que eles perdem tempo demais com a ida dos caçadores de recompensas para a cidade. Talvez se tivesse focado apenas na família tentando sobreviver aos ataques das criaturas, o filme teria sido melhor. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/07/24 Full Review Elvis D Una película que dio inicio a una saga bastante olvidada y que aún sigue teniendo a su público, Critters es una película que pareció querer seguir los pasos de Gremlins. La película no es del todo original, pero ofrece un satisfactorio entretenimiento de ciencia ficción con un ambiente que trata de replicar el cine de terror de los 80. Tiene lo que se puede esperar de una película ochentera que es algo sencillo y disfrutable, muy buenos efectos especiales y criaturas hechas a base de efectos prácticos. Se acredita también la participación de Dee Wallace de E.T., un joven Billy Zane y una desconocida Lin Shaye que tendría fama en su tercera edad con Insidious. Una de las cosas más inolvidables de esta película es su canción Power Of The Night. Los Critters también son algo memorable de la película por ser más que solo criaturas hambrientas de carne, también se puede notar que tienen un humor basado en Gremlins. El parecido con Gremlins es algo demasiado casual debido a que Stephen Herek ha declarado que el guion había sido escrito antes de que Gremlins se estrenara. Lo que si es extraño es que esta sea la única película de la saga donde los Critters pueden aumentar de tamaño. No se sabe por qué no pudieron repetir eso en las secuelas para mantener el interés. Critters sigue siendo igualmente una buena película para los que disfrutan el cine ochentero. Mi calificación final para esta película es un 9/10. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/07/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis When strange fuzzy creatures from outer space arrive on a farm, the Brown family -- Jay (Billy Green Bush), Helen (Dee Wallace-Stone), their daughter, April (Nadine Van Der Velde), and their son, Brad (Scott Grimes) -- must fend off the malevolent little aliens. Two bounty hunters with superhuman abilities follow the aggressive beasts from beyond, but the warriors aren't terribly effective, leaving the Brown family to battle the fur balls and rescue April from their clutches all by themselves.
Director
Stephen Herek
Producer
Rupert Harvey, Barry Opper
Screenwriter
Domonic Muir, Stephen Herek
Production Co
New Line Cinema, Smart Egg Pictures, Sho Films
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Horror, Sci-Fi, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 1, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA)
$11.3M
Runtime
1h 24m
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