Throwback Thursday: Critters (1986)

“Food!”

A spaceship loaded with little furry balls of teeth crash lands on Earth and attacks the Brown family farm in 1986’s Critters. While I didn’t get to see it in theaters, I did watch it multiple times on VHS and eventually saw its first sequel, Critters 2: The Main Course, on the big screen because I loved the original film so much. Three more sequels and a web series would follow, cementing the Krites (the vicious little critters in the film) as cult classic monsters.

In the film, a pack of Krites escape from a prison ship in outer space and crash land on Earth near the Brown farm in Kansas. Brad Brown, the youngest member of the family, spots the ship and mistakes it for a meteorite. When he and his dad go to investigate the wreckage, they discover the evil Krites. Two bounty hunters are sent to the planet to kill the Krites, but they land in a nearby town and spend much of the film unintentionally scaring the locals as they try to find the escaped prisoners. Meanwhile, back on the farm, the Brown family goes to war with the Krites, who have eaten some of the family’s livestock, a local deputy, and April Brown’s boyfriend. As the battle between the Browns and the Krites rages on, the local sheriff, the town drunk/mechanic named Charlie, and the bounty hunters, named Ug and Lee, finally arrive on the scene and try to help the family defeat the very, very hungry Krites. You’ll have to watch the film to find out who wins!

The film featured an amazing cast including the legendary Dee Wallace (The Howling, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Cujo), M. Emmet Walsh (Bladerunner, The Jerk, Cannery Row), Billy Green Bush (Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday, The River), and Lin Shaye (A Nightmare On Elm Street, Insidious, There’s Something About Mary). It’s also the second film appearance of Billy Zane (Titanic, The Phantom), the film debut of Scott Grimes (The Orville, American Dad), and one of Nadine van der Velde’s earliest appearances on the big screen. The film focused on Grimes’ character of Bradley and his best friend, the town drunk named Charlie, portrayed by Don Keith Opper. The film also starred Ethan Phillips (Star Trek: Voyager) as a deputy and Terence Mann (Solarbabies, Big Top Peewee, Sense8) as Ug/Johnny Steele. Mann also performed the song Power Of Night in the movie while portraying Johnny Steele. Both Opper and Mann reprised their roles in the first three sequels. Grimes returned for the second film and Wallace returned for Critters Attack!.

The film was the directorial debut of Stephen Herek (who co-wrote the screenplay with Domonic Muir). Herek would go on to much bigger and better things as the director of a number of popular films including Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead, The Mighty Ducks, 101 Dalmations (live action), and Rock Star. He also directed and/or produced episodes of MacGyver (2016-2018), Hawaii Five-0 (2015-2016), and a number of other television shows and made-for-TV movies. Not to be outdone by her director, Nadine van der Velde became a producer, writer, and story editor for numerous children’s shows including Rolie Polie Olie and Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends. She also co-created and executive produced The Fresh Beat Band. She’s won three Emmy Awards for her work.

This film really struck a chord with me. I was just a few years younger than Scott Grimes and instantly connected with his character, Brad. I loved the Krites, who could bounce around, grow in size, and fire paralyzing spikes from their backs. I also loved Charlie and the bounty hunters, Ug and Lee. As I’ve gotten older, I realize that this film can be pretty cheesy at times, but I still love it. I still laugh when the two Krites are talking on the Brown family porch when one says, “They have weapons,” and the other replies “So what?” and is promptly blown up by Helen Brown (Wallace). The surviving Krite lets out an expletive and I giggle every time. It’s a really fun film and it’s also an excellent “introductory horror” flick for tweens who are becoming interested in horror movies as it isn’t too scary but isn’t too silly, either.

Critters may not be for everyone but it’s definitely a cool film to check out at least one time. The first sequel was very good, but each one after that declined in quality. I haven’t seen the series yet, but I’ll probably check it out eventually. Until then, I just want to say thanks for reading my post. I’ll see you again real soon!