Main Cast: Dee Wallace, M. Emmet Walsh, Billy Green Bush, Scott Grimes, Nadine Van Der Velde
Release Year: 1986
Country: US
Run Time: 86 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Critters, an amusing horror comedy directed byStephen Herek, is the story of a family menaced by eight basketball sized creatures from outer space who arrive at their Kansas farm in search of food. Helen Brown (Dee Wallace Stone) and Brad (Scott Grimes), owners of the farm find themselves held hostage as the creatures roll, jump and bounce around during the night. They are pursued by a pair of inept, intergalactic bounty hunters, Charlie (Don Keith Opper) and Johnny (Terrence Mann) who can shape-shift at will and are packing weapons capable of taking care of any creature they encounter. The special effects of this humorous thriller are extremely good and the creatures themselves have distinct and separate personalities. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Review
This pleasant, old-fashioned diversion posits eight hungry little furballs called Crites snatching a spaceship and escaping from their prison planet. They come to Earth, landing in a small Kansas town and pursued by a pair of shape-shifting bounty hunters. One takes the guise of a famous rock star named Johnny Steele (Terrence Mann of A Chorus Line), while the other snatches various guises from the people he meets. Meanwhile, the Crites are eating everything in sight and terrorizing a farmer's family. And a wholesome family it is, too, with mischievous son Brad (Scott Grimes of Night Life), precocious daughter April (Nadine Van Der Velde), and perfect housewife Helen (Dee Wallace of The Howling). Don Opper is funny as the semi-retarded handyman Charlie, who is always hearing aliens through the fillings in his teeth, and Blood Simple's M. Emmet Walsh is in fine form as the town sheriff. An interesting kiddie-oriented ploy has the bounty hunters almost as destructive as the Crites until they are befriended by young Grimes. Kids will enjoy the Crites, well designed to be both fearsome and cute by the Chiodo Brothers, who would go on to make the fun, silly Killer Klowns From Outer Space, while adults will groove on the nifty transformation effects by R. Christopher Biggs and the 1950s monster-movie ambience. Look for a young Billy Zane as Van Der Velde's doomed boyfriend, and a funny exchange between a hungry Crite and a toy ET. There were three sequels, none directed by Herek, who went on to 101 Dalmatians. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Terrence Mann - Johnny Steele; Don Opper - Charlie McFadden; Billy Zane - Steve Elliott; Ethan Phillips - Jeff Barnes; Jeremy Lawrence - Preacher; Lin Shaye - Sally; Michael Lee Gogin - Warden Zanti; Art Frankel - Ed; Corey Burton - Critters; Doug Koth - Bowler #1; Adele Malis-Morey - Woman #1; Montrose Hagins - Organist; Roger Hampton - Jake; David Stenstrom - Pool Player #2
Credit
Philip Foreman - Art Director, Isabel Bau Madden - Art Director, Sara Risher - Associate Producer, Elisabeth Leustig - Casting, Hilary Wright - Costume Designer, Stephen Herek - Director, Larry Bock - Editor, Robert Shaye - Executive Producer, David Newman - Composer (Music Score), Chris Biggs - Makeup Special Effects, Gregg Fonseca - Production Designer, Tim Suhrstedt - Cinematographer, Christopher Tufty - Cinematographer, Daryl Kass - Production Manager, Rupert Harvey - Producer, Anne Huntley-Ahrens - Set Designer, Chiodo Brothers Productions - Special Effects, Quicksilver Fx - Special Effects, Michael Cassidy - Stunts, Stephen Herek - Screenwriter, Dononic Muir - Screenwriter, Don Opper - Screenwriter
The film begins on a prison asteroid in outer space. A group of unseen creatures known as the Crites are set to be transported to another station. When the seemingly intelligent creatures hijack a ship away from the station, the leader of the station hires two transforming bounty hunters to hunt the Crites down.
Meanwhile on the Earth we are introduced to the Brown family, living in a rural Kansas town: the father, Jay; the mother, Helen; the teenage daughter, April; and the trouble-making son, Brad. Brad often hangs out with dopey mechanic, Charlie. When he and Brad are outside, Charlie accidentally hits Brad's sister with a slingshot pellet and Brad, not wanting his friend to get into trouble, passes the blame on himself. He is grounded, but sneaks out onto the roof and takes a seat in a tree. In the tree he sees a comet streaking the sky that falls somewhere in the distance, making a loud crash prompting Jay to run outside. He is surprised yet not necessarily angry to find his son in the tree, who says he was blown outside by the explosion. Jay, obviously not believing this, takes his son along with him to find the comet.
At the crash site, we see that the comet was actually the Critters' ship. Subtitled, we see that the creatures want food. Shortly afterward the Critters make their way towards the farm and manage to cut the power. Jay, Helen, and Brad go to the circuit breaker where Jay is attacked by one of the Critters. The family manages to evade the Critters and get into the house. Meanwhile the two bounty hunters, already landed on the Earth, travel from pillar to post in the town looking for the Critters. When Brad goes for help he manages to bring the bounty hunters to his home. After their arrival the Critters flee back to their ship but manage to kidnap April. Brad rescues April from the ship and he and Charlie manage to get a large custom-made firecracker in through the ship's door, shortly after the Critters blast the Brown's house into pieces their ship explodes supposedly killing all the critters. The following morning the bounty hunters leave in their ship after giving Brad a strange remote-like device. The bounty hunters manage to repair the Brown's house in less than a minute with the device and fly off, afterward the camera pans toward the barn where green eggs can be visible implying there will be a sequel.
