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Critters

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Critters

PG-13

1986

1h 24m

Horror

Sci-Fi

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

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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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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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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jason l

By far the best one of the series. I never knew this was actually supposed to be a horror movie. I thought it was like a comedy. The critters have some pretty funny lines in the movie. Not great but okay for a single watch.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/27/25

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Nick O

Gremlins from outer space, cept’ there cuter, fuzzier, and hell of a lot meaner! Critters will eat you alive and come back for seconds!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/25/25

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r96 s

'Critters' is 'Gremlins'-esque fun overall, though it isn't supremely enjoyable all the way through; I felt some pacing issues. The titular aliens do look the part though, even all these years later. The practical effects are nice, that house explosion is particularly great. Scott Grimes is the actor that stood out most to me whilst watching. I do like how the kid is written, usually in these sorta films they tend to be only annoyingly bratty but here there are a couple of moments where you can see Brad's good; e.g. with Charlie, or with his mum. A nice touch, I thought. It is a movie that I'd say lacks consistent thrill, but all in all it's one I'll still be considering as passable. Hopefully the sequels are more critter-centric than human-centric though, that's the only way I reckon a franchise like this could avoid bad follow-ups.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/22/25

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James B

Critters is just gremlins with a horror twist but it's very campy and doesn't really have a satisfying ending and it doesn't really pose much of a threat.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/24/25

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Calvin T

It was worth the watch ✌🏾

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/12/24

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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

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Stephen Herek

Director

Dee Wallace

Helen Brown

M. Emmet Walsh

Harv

Terrence Mann

Johnny Steele

Billy Green Bush

Jay Brown

Scott Grimes

Brad Brown

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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, Sho Films, Smart Egg Pictures
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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