Synopsis
Carnivorous aliens arrive unannounced at a Kansas family farm; two intergalactic bounty hunters soon follow, determined to blow them off the planet.
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Cast
- Dee WallaceHelen Brown
- M. Emmet WalshHarv
- Billy Green BushJay Brown
- Scott GrimesBrad Brown
- Nadine Van der VeldeApril Brown
- Billy ZaneSteve Elliot
- Lin ShayeSally
- Ethan PhillipsJeff Barnes
- Don Keith OpperCharlie McFadden
- Terrence MannJohnny Steele / Ug
- 75
Chicago Sun-Times
What makes Critters more than a ripoff are its humor and its sense of style. This is a movie made by people who must have had fun making it. - 75
Chicago Tribune
For its many lighter moments, Critters is careful to balance its laughs with a number of chills. It unabashedly and wittily pays homage to other films. But ultimately it stands firmly on its own, a little bit frightening and a lot of fun. [15 Apr 1986, p.3C] - 60
Empire
Derivative but tongue-in-cheek enough to have a following. - 60
Time Out
Judging from the title, Spielberg's Gremlins would be the immediate target, and indeed Critters does share a sardonic similarity. In fact, Critters looks like several dozen films without looking like any one of them, the action and characters lifted whole from a dissimilar plethora of cinematic sources and underscored with a sizzling sarcasm which elevates it from its source material. - 50
Slant Magazine
Slap together a modestly budgeted horror film with an unmistakable resemblance to a recent hit film (Gremlins) and a notable inversion of another popular film’s ending (Poltergeist), insert just enough Podunk camp to ensure Joe Bob Briggs would catch its scent and you’ll guarantee yourself the birth of a franchise. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
One of the most enjoyable films of the summer, Critters harks back to the low-budget science fiction films of the 1950s and balances the thrills with heavy doses of humor. - 50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Critters mounts a moment or two of suspense, but director Herek has as much wit and even less visual imagination than the people who created Night of the Comet. [16 Apr 1986, p.C6] - 50
Los Angeles Times
Critters is a dumb, but sometimes likable little movie: maybe an odd comment, since it contains savage killings, mutilations and general bloodshed and evisceration. [25 Apr 1986, p.8]