Critters Poster

Critters (1986)

PG-13 04/11/1986 Comedy, Horror, Science Fiction 1h 26m
65%
User
Score
6.1/10
52%
52/100

The battle began in another galaxy. It's about to end in the Brown's backyard.

Overview

Carnivorous aliens arrive unannounced at a Kansas family farm; two intergalactic bounty hunters soon follow, determined to blow them off the planet.

Stephen Herek

Director

Domonic Muir

Screenplay

Part of the Critters Collection

Includes Critters and other great movies.

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Top Billed Cast

Dee Wallace

Dee Wallace

Helen Brown

M. Emmet Walsh

M. Emmet Walsh

Harv

Billy Green Bush

Billy Green Bush

Jay Brown

Scott Grimes

Scott Grimes

Brad Brown

Nadine Van der Velde

Nadine Van der Velde

April Brown

Don Keith Opper

Don Keith Opper

Charlie McFadden

Lin Shaye

Lin Shaye

Sally

Billy Zane

Billy Zane

Steve Elliot

Ethan Phillips

Ethan Phillips

Jeff Barnes

Media

Original Trailer

Original Trailer

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Reviews

A review by Gimly

Written on August 25, 2019

It's great when you re-visit a film you enjoyed as a kid and find that as an adult it still totally holds up. Sure _Critters_ almost definitely found its start as nothing more than one of the slew or various _Gremlins_ rip-offs that were being written up at the time, but it's precisely the differences **from** _Gremlins_ that make _Critters_ any kind of success. The more overt sci-fi elements of the film have become a mainstay in the franchise, and are a big part of what makes this thing worth coming back to.

_Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time._...

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A review by Sheldon Nylander

Written on September 2, 2019

"Critters" is one of those rare movies that comes along that, despite all odds against it, manages to strike just the right chord. A little-monsters mix of scifi, horror, and comedy, the film uses its low budget as part of its charm. It scales the film farely small, that being a family farm that's attacked by Crites, voracious little eating machines from outer space, rather than a world-spanning threat. This is likely due to the low budget, but it works very well because the lower scale gives the audience a chance to know and identify with the characters, including the Crites themselves. The Crites are more than just Gremlins from space. They have their own language (subtitled, of course) and given that there are only a handful of them gives the filmmakers a chance to give them some charac...

Read the full review on TMDb →

A review by Sheldon Nylander

Written on September 2, 2019

"Critters" is one of those rare movies that comes along that, despite all odds against it, manages to strike just the right chord. A little-monsters mix of scifi, horror, and comedy, the film uses its low budget as part of its charm. It scales the film farely small, that being a family farm that's attacked by Crites, voracious little eating machines from outer space, rather than a world-spanning threat. This is likely due to the low budget, but it works very well because the lower scale gives the audience a chance to know and identify with the characters, including the Crites themselves. The Crites are more than just Gremlins from space. They have their own language (subtitled, of course) and given that there are only a handful of them gives the filmmakers a chance to give them some charac...

Read the full review on TMDb →

A review by Kamurai

Written on July 10, 2021

Good watch, could watch again and do recommend.

This is a good one to jump into the way back machine for, and I'm waiting on a reboot to happen. (Actually...."The Tomorrow War" is sort of on the same track)

The critters themselves are (in a horrible way) cute and vicious looking, the acting is decent, the story is good, and I'm a big fan of the shape shifting hunters sent to kill them.

When it comes down to it, the movie is a lot of fun and worth giving a watch....

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A review by Wuchak

Written on December 28, 2024

**_Entertaining popcorn flick from the mid-80s is both cartoonish and horrifying_**

Small, furry extraterrestrials harass a farm town in America while two bounty hunters try to capture them.

"Critters" (1986) takes the basic premise of 50’s alien-invasion flicks, like “The Blob” or “War of the Worlds,” but meshes it with the tone and furry creatures of “Gremlims” from two years prior. The Kansas farmhouse and small town setting recalls teen Clark Kent’s situation in “Superman” (1978). The movie expertly walks the balance beam between fun & amusing and deadly serious creature feature. The vibe is similar to "Neon Maniacs" from the same year, but this is superior, as well as superior to “Gremlims.”

Dee Wallace is a highlight as the wife/mother, never looking...

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A review by r96sk

Written on April 22, 2025

<em>'Critters'</em> is <em>'Gremlins'</em>-esque fun overall, though it isn't supremely enjoyable all the way through; I felt some pacing issues. The titular aliens do look the part though, even all these years later. The practical effects are nice, that house explosion is particularly great.

Scott Grimes is the actor that stood out most to me whilst watching. I do like how the kid is written, usually in these sorta films they tend to be only annoyingly bratty but here there are a couple of moments where you can see Brad's good; e.g. with Charlie, or with his mum. A nice touch, I thought.

It is a movie that I'd say lacks consistent thrill, but all in all it's one I'll still be considering as passable. Hopefully the sequels are more critter-centric than human-centric though, that's th...

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