Critters – Directed by Stephen Herek – 1986

Cute, cheesy fun!

Story: Cute little furry monsters from outer space are out to eat as many humans. Sounds like a winning combination to me! The movie is fairly light hearted, putting laughs over scares or logical progression. There were times when I saw the window wide open to do some very dark humor, and I was slightly disappointed that they didn't take those opportunities. The main family members do decay as the movie progresses, as I felt the sister and the father were stronger characters before the plot showed up, and I blame the plot for that. C

Acting: I was excited to see Billy Zane's name in the credits considering I'm a big fan of his work. Sadly, he has a somewhat small role as the 80's dumb boyfriend. At least he does it well. The star of this movie is the kid, played by Scott Grimes, who plays a very confident little crazy-prepared pyromaniac. Outside of the horror genre this kid would probably be seeing a psychiatrist on a regular basis, but it works here. Don Keith Opper annoyed me, which is probably a bad thing considering he's in all four of these movies and since I've started down this path I'll have to watch them all. Overall, the acting department gets a B.

Direction: This has the feel of a children's movie, a little cheesy but with a punch to it. The direction neither offended me nor impressed me, and I'm searching for things to say about it. That sounds like C level to me.

Visuals: The visuals still work to this day, which I consider to be a high compliment to an 80's special effects movie. The critters have a great combination of cute, yet menacing (I won't say scary, but slightly intimidating). The space ships look cool and the two bounty hunters are a visual highlight of this movie. A

Overall: Critters is a fun entry into the silly horror genre that I think most kids would be all over and most parents would enjoy with the proper mindset. It's fairly safe, its got some dry humping but no nudity or real sex, some blood but not obscene amounts, and I don't recall any major profanity being dropped. The only real setback for parents would be the need to explain to their children that it is not okay to make bombs in the barn, despite the fact that it worked out for the kid in this movie. B


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