Critters – Sie sind da! (1986)

Critters – Sie sind da!: Directed by Stephen Herek. With Dee Wallace, M. Emmet Walsh, Billy Green Bush, Scott Grimes. A group of small but vicious alien creatures called Crites escape from an alien prison transport vessel and land near a small farm town on earth, pursued by two shape-shifting bounty hunters.

“Unfairly judged as a rip off of Gremlins from 1984, Critters should be thought of as a fun film taking all it can from the glorious peak of 50s sci-fi creature features. From the Critters themselves to every other character in the film, it shouts out as a colourised version of a 50s staple.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCritters escape from a space prison and head for another planet, Kansas {well OK then, Earth}, here they intend to eat every thing that gets in their way. The inhabitants of a small town donu0026#39;t know what has hit them, but aided by a couple of intergalactic bounty hunters, they fight back to hopefully rid their homes of the furry maniacal Critters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWatching this is like watching a roll call for every stereotypical character ever put into a creature feature film. Cute kid who could be a hero, nice but dim farm hand, homely family with guts and verve, the sheriff who is just not gonna believe what is happening no matter what evidence is produced, and etc. Yet it works because they are homaging past masters, they arenu0026#39;t trying to kid anyone that itu0026#39;s a new idea, itu0026#39;s good fun that doesnu0026#39;t outstay its welcome.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Critters are great, furry balls of fury with a shed load of teeth that are backed up by off the cuff subtitles to enthasize their grumblings. Genre babe Dee Wallace Stone gets to do her stuff, whilst M Emett Walsh has fun as sceptical sheriff Harv. Itu0026#39;s not a classic genre piece by any stretch of the imagination, but it is fun {witness a delightful E.T. scene}, and I for one look forward to part two later in the week. 6.5/10”