The beloved B-horror creature-feature franchise Critters turns 35 years old this April. The cult sci-fi-horror-comedy series is comprised of two theatrically-released feature films, two direct-to-video releases, a made-for-television movie, and an episodic web TV series. The first four films were released six years apart from 1986-1992 before the franchise went dormant for 27 years.
In 2019, both Critters Attack! and Critters: A New Binge was released to middling reviews among fans and critics alike, marking a far cry from the original film earning two thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert. As such, it's worth wondering whether the Critters franchise has seen its final days or if it'll persist in the years to come.
6 Critters Attack! (2019) 3.7/10
While star Dee Wallace returned to the franchise 33 years after appearing in the original Critters, she alone could not save the critical drubbing Critters Attack! received upon release in 2019.
Directed by Bobby Miller from a Scott Lobdell script, the made-for-TV effort concerns Drea (Tashiana Washington), a college hopeful who agrees to babysit for a professor in order to score brownie points ahead of enrollment. Drea decides to take the professor's three young children on a trek in the mountains, only to be met by a vicious gaggle of extraterrestrial monsters with a penchant for human flesh and blood.
5 Critters 4 (1992) 4.1/10
Shot back to back with and released on video less than one year after Critters 3, the fourth iteration of the franchise stars such acclaimed actors as Angela Bassett, Terrence Mann, and Brad Dourif. Alas, the film led to a near three-decade series respite.
In the only film directed by Rupert Harvey, Critters 4 extends the spiky little ghouls' reign of terror to the cosmos, where they terrorize the crew of a space station after thawing from a cryogenic freeze. The tagline "in space no one can smell rotten eggs" lampoons the classic tagline from Ridley Scott's Alien, "in space, no one can hear you scream."
4 Critters 3 (1991) 4.5/10
After honing his craft for three years on television, eventual Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio made his feature film debut in Critters 3. Directed by Kristine Peterson, the claustrophobic chiller traces a ferocious band of critters that overruns a Los Angeles high-rise.
DiCaprio plays Josh, a teenager who dislikes his unfair stepfather and landlord of the building. When the critters begin slaughtering the tenantry, Josh joins protagonists Annie (Aimee Brooks), her father Clifford (John Calvin), and little brother Johnny (Christian Cousins) as they climb the floors of the high-rise while fending-off the flesh-hungry ghouls. According to the DVD commentary of the uncut Saw 3D DVD, Cary Elwes turned down the role of Josh.
3 Critters: A New Binge (2019) 5.10/10
While the overall IMDb rating of Shudder's Critters: A New Binge is currently 5.1/10, the individual eight episodes range anywhere from 6.2-6.5/10. The series is a reboot of the original film and is set in Livingston, Iowa.
Directed by Jordan Rubin, who co-wrote all eight episodes with Al and Jon Kaplan, the series introduces a whole new cast of characters that includes Christopher (Joey Morgan), Dana (Stephi Chin-Salvo), Charlie (Bzhaun Rhoden), Veronica (Kristen Robek), and Uncle (Gilbert Gottfried). When the killer Krites are sent to Earth to retrieve a friend missing in action, the high-schoolers find help from a trio of bounty hunters from outer space.
2 Critters 2: The Main Course (1988) 5.5/10
The Fugitive, Waterworld, and Pitch Black scribe David Twohy made his screenwriting debut with Critters 2: The Main Course, in which the Easter holiday in quaint Grover's Bend is wrecked by the ravaging clan of uncouth creatures from outer space.
Directed by horror sequel and remake man Mick Garris, the action ramps up when a nest of yet-to-be hatched Krite pods are confused for decorative Easter Eggs by the unwitting townsfolk. With the assistance of intergalactic hunters Ug (Terrence Mann) and Lee (Roxanne Kernohan), teenage local Brad Brown (Scott Grimes) sets out to quash the monstrous onslaught as the critters multiply at a rapid pace and run roughshod over Grover's Bend.
1 Critters (1986) 6.1/10
Released two years after Joe Dante's Gremlins, Stephen Herek made his directorial debut with the similar, PG-13-rated horror-comedy Critters. Despite the perceived inspiration, Herek has repeatedly claimed that Critters was written by Domonic Muir years before Gremlins was released and had to be rewritten in order to decrease the similarities between the two films.
The plot concerns a mutinous horde of alien-monsters that hijacks a spacecraft and heads to Earth. When young Kansas farmboy Brad (Scott Grimes) witnesses a fiery mass descending from the sky, he assumes it to be a meteorite and decides to investigate. Soon, the critters begin to multiply and murder everyone in sight until a pair of extraterrestrial huntsmen help Brad and his family to exterminate the menacing monsters. A surprise hit for New Line Cinema, Critters earned over $13 million against an estimated $2 million budget.
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