CRITTERS

Directed by Stephen Herek
Written by Domonic Muir and Stephen Herek
Cinematography by Tim Suhrstedt
Music by David Newman
Cast: Dee Wallace Stone, M. Emmet Walsh, Billy Green Bush, Scott Grimes, Nadine Van Der Velde

1986/86 mins/Color/Dolby Digital Surround
1.85:1 anamorphic/English/US/NTSC Region 1

Review from New Line Home Entertainment DVD

On another planet a group of small, vicious creatures, called Krites or, as the humans would call them, Critters, escape while being transferred to some sort of prison planet. They head to Earth. Two bounty hunters, with the ability to shape shift into anyone, are sent to follow them. Meanwhile, a family is terrorized by the nasty, little, flesh-eating monsters.

In the 80s, after the success of Joe Dante’s GREMLINS, a whole bunch of horror films came out ripping that classic off. Though, none were ever as great as that film; CRITTERS was, by far, the best of the batch. It would go to become a fan favorite of its own right, inspiring three inferior sequels, including the atrocious parts 3 and 4.

The film is really fun and likable. Though mostly lighthearted, it does manage to make its monsters come off as menacing. Still, the film succeeds in putting in a couple of good laughs, the best of which is the dialogue, seen in subtitles no less, between the little fuckers. Nonetheless, the ending does come as ridiculous and somewhat silly.

The cast’s acting, including genre favorite Dee Wallace Stone, is quite good. Also, good is the FX work by Chiodo Brothers (who would go to work on an even better sci-fi/ horror comedy in KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE) is excellent. The miniature house and spaceships also look great.

CRITTERS invade our DVD players thanks to New Line Home Entertainment. The movie is presented in an anamorphic aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The picture has some really beautiful colors and rich blacks. The Dolby Digital surround sound is dynamic and exciting, especially during the action scenes.

The disc sadly lacks in the extras department, though, as it only provides trailers to all four films in the series. The only other thing is that it has a DVD-Rom link to the New Line website.

It comes in a keep case but has no inlet card. Still, the active menu is really cool and gives you access to the twenty chapters that the film is broken up into.

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Review by Giovanni Deldio. All Rights Reserved. 2007 ©