4 Courses Of Critters

As it's Halloween, I thought I would write about a DVD box-set that I bought recently - Critters 1-4.

I first saw Critters and its sequel, Critters 2, when I was in junior school. I hadn't seen the last two films in the series and saw the DVDs on sale for £4.99 so thought it would be fun to watch them all in succession.

Critters (1986)

It's pretty obvious that these films were made to cash in on the success of Gremlins which was released two years earlier.

The movie is about a small farm town that is invaded by aliens which look like mutant hedgehogs.

I don't really know which genre the movie falls into as it has elements of comedy, horror and science fiction.

What I do know is this film has aged. The special effects look extremely dated twenty-three years later but it was fun to see it again.

One of the funniest moments in the film is when one of the Critters is trying to talk to an E.T. toy. The underlying comedy in this is the mother in this movie was also the mother in E.T.

Critters 2 : The Main Course (1988)

It can be argued that Critters was a rip-off of Gremlins. With this movie there is no argument - this is definitely a Gremlins knock-off!

The Critters are funnier in this one which is extremely similar to the monsters in Gremlins.

As a child, I remembered preferring this film to its predecessor. I'm changing my stance now after all these years.

This one is not as good as the original but it was still fun to see it again.

Critters 3 (1991)

If Critters 1 and 2 were rip-offs of Gremlins then this one is certainly a rip-0ff of Gremlins 2.

This film is set inside an apartment block where the Critters eggs have hatched and are attacking the residents of the building. I found it similar to the sequel to Gremlins because that film was also set inside a building rather than wreaking havoc throughout a town.

I hadn't seen this one before. It had a little bit more gore than the other two but it also had a lot more comedy, too. A weird combination if you ask me.

What was interesting about this film is a very young Leonardo DiCaprio plays one of the main characters.

I wonder if he's available to appear in another Critters movie.

Nah.

Critters 4 (1992)

Oh. My.

This was like a cocktail of Star Wars, Alien, Gremlins and Critters and tasted sick!

The film was set on a space station where two of the only two Critter eggs in existence have hatched.

This one was the worst of the lot and I am glad that space station blew up in the end. It made sure there wasn't a Critters 5.