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Critters (film)
Encyclopedia
Critters is a 1986 cult
science fiction film
starring Dee Wallace-Stone, M. Emmet Walsh
, Billy Green Bush
and Scott Grimes
. It was directed by Stephen Herek
and written by Herek, Domonic Muir (story) and Don Keith Opper
(additional scenes). It is the first film in the Critters series
. Although widely believed to have been inspired by the success of Joe Dante
's 1984 film Gremlins
, Herek has refuted this in interviews, pointing out that the script was written by Muir long before Gremlins went into production and subsequently underwent rewrites to reduce the apparent similarities between the two films.
Meanwhile, on Earth, we are introduced to the Brown family, living in a rural Kansas
town: the father, Jay; the mother, Helen; the teenage daughter, April; and the trouble-making son, Brad. Brad often hangs out with dopey mechanic, Charlie McFadden. When he and Brad are outside, Charlie accidentally hits Brad's sister with a slingshot pellet, and Brad, not wanting his friend to get into trouble, passes the blame on himself. He is grounded, but sneaks out onto the roof. While on the roof Brad sees what appears to be a comet streaking the sky, falling somewhere in the distance.
The comet, which in actuality is the Crite's ship, lands, causing the ground to shake and alarming Jay and his wife. Walking outside to investigate, Jay discovers Brad in a tree, who says he was thrown clear out of his window by the earthquake. Jay, obviously not believing this, takes his son along with him to find the comet. At the landing site, the Critters survey the damage, and set out for food.
Devouring the majority of a steer, the Crites are interrupted upon Jay and Brad's discovery of the cattle's carcass. Shortly afterward, the Critters make their way toward the farm and manage to cut the power. Jay, Helen and Brad go to the circuit breaker where Jay is attacked by one of the Critters. The family manages to evade the Critters and get into the house. Meanwhile the two bounty hunters, having already landed on Earth, travel from pillar to post in the town looking for the Critters. When Brad goes for help, he manages to bring the bounty hunters to his home. The Critters return to their ship when the bounty hunters arrive, with their large leader having kidnapped April. Brad rescues April from the ship, but accidentally drops a large homemade bomb which he was unable to light. Charlie then lights the bomb with a molotov cocktail
created from the whiskey he is always carrying.
The Critters lift off, and blast the Brown's house into pieces. Their ship explodes, supposedly killing all the Critters. The bounty hunters leave in their ship after giving Brad a strange, remote-like device. The Brown's house is repaired in less than a minute, with a push of a button on the remote control. At the very end, the camera zooms into the barn, where Critter eggs can be seen.
by New Line Cinema
in April 1986. It turned out to be a modest hit for the company, grossing $13,167,232 at the box office.
The film was released on VHS
and laserdisc
by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video the same year. In September 1997, New Line Home Video re-released the film on VHS.
In 2003, New Line Home Entertainment
released the film on DVD. The film was re-released in a set containing all 4 Critters
films on DVD by Warner Bros.
in 2010.
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
starring Dee Wallace-Stone, M. Emmet Walsh
M. Emmet Walsh
Michael Emmet Walsh is an American actor who has appeared in over 100 film and television productions.-Life and career:Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Kathrine and Harry Maurice Walsh, Sr., a customs agent...
, Billy Green Bush
Billy Green Bush
William Warren Bush is an American actor, sometimes credited as “Billy Greenbush”.Notable movie appearances include Five Easy Pieces , The Culpepper Cattle Company , Electra Glide in Blue , Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , The River , The Hitcher , Critters , and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final...
and Scott Grimes
Scott Grimes
Scott Richard Grimes is an American actor, voice artist and singer. Some of his most prominent roles are his appearances in ER as Dr. Archie Morris, Party of Five as Will McCorkle, Band of Brothers as Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey, and the popular animated sitcom American Dad!, voicing Steve...
. It was directed by Stephen Herek
Stephen Herek
Stephen Robert Herek is an American film director.Herek was born in San Antonio, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin. His career as film director took off in 1986 with Critters followed by Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure where he worked with Keanu Reeves in 1989...
and written by Herek, Domonic Muir (story) and Don Keith Opper
Don Keith Opper
Don Keith Opper is an American actor, writer, and producer who has starred in film and on television. He is known for his role as Charlie McFadden in the 1986 science fiction film Critters and all 3 of the sequels. His most recent film is in the 1998 film Where's Marlowe?...
(additional scenes). It is the first film in the Critters series
Critters (film series)
The Critters film series, from New Line Cinema, comprises four movies that combine elements of horror, science fiction and comedy. The first film, called simply Critters, was released in 1986 and received "two thumbs up" from Siskel and Ebert....
. Although widely believed to have been inspired by the success of Joe Dante
Joe Dante
Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
's 1984 film Gremlins
Gremlins
Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante, released by Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature—called a Mogwai—as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel,...
, Herek has refuted this in interviews, pointing out that the script was written by Muir long before Gremlins went into production and subsequently underwent rewrites to reduce the apparent similarities between the two films.
Plot
The film begins on a prison asteroid in outer space. A group of unseen creatures known as Crites are set to be transported to another station. When the seemingly intelligent creatures hijack a ship away from the station, the leader of the station hires two transforming bounty hunters to hunt the "Critters" down.Meanwhile, on Earth, we are introduced to the Brown family, living in a rural Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
town: the father, Jay; the mother, Helen; the teenage daughter, April; and the trouble-making son, Brad. Brad often hangs out with dopey mechanic, Charlie McFadden. When he and Brad are outside, Charlie accidentally hits Brad's sister with a slingshot pellet, and Brad, not wanting his friend to get into trouble, passes the blame on himself. He is grounded, but sneaks out onto the roof. While on the roof Brad sees what appears to be a comet streaking the sky, falling somewhere in the distance.
The comet, which in actuality is the Crite's ship, lands, causing the ground to shake and alarming Jay and his wife. Walking outside to investigate, Jay discovers Brad in a tree, who says he was thrown clear out of his window by the earthquake. Jay, obviously not believing this, takes his son along with him to find the comet. At the landing site, the Critters survey the damage, and set out for food.
Devouring the majority of a steer, the Crites are interrupted upon Jay and Brad's discovery of the cattle's carcass. Shortly afterward, the Critters make their way toward the farm and manage to cut the power. Jay, Helen and Brad go to the circuit breaker where Jay is attacked by one of the Critters. The family manages to evade the Critters and get into the house. Meanwhile the two bounty hunters, having already landed on Earth, travel from pillar to post in the town looking for the Critters. When Brad goes for help, he manages to bring the bounty hunters to his home. The Critters return to their ship when the bounty hunters arrive, with their large leader having kidnapped April. Brad rescues April from the ship, but accidentally drops a large homemade bomb which he was unable to light. Charlie then lights the bomb with a molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
created from the whiskey he is always carrying.
The Critters lift off, and blast the Brown's house into pieces. Their ship explodes, supposedly killing all the Critters. The bounty hunters leave in their ship after giving Brad a strange, remote-like device. The Brown's house is repaired in less than a minute, with a push of a button on the remote control. At the very end, the camera zooms into the barn, where Critter eggs can be seen.
Cast
- Dee Wallace-Stone as Helen Brown
- M. Emmet WalshM. Emmet WalshMichael Emmet Walsh is an American actor who has appeared in over 100 film and television productions.-Life and career:Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Kathrine and Harry Maurice Walsh, Sr., a customs agent...
as Harv - Billy Green BushBilly Green BushWilliam Warren Bush is an American actor, sometimes credited as “Billy Greenbush”.Notable movie appearances include Five Easy Pieces , The Culpepper Cattle Company , Electra Glide in Blue , Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , The River , The Hitcher , Critters , and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final...
as Jay Brown - Scott GrimesScott GrimesScott Richard Grimes is an American actor, voice artist and singer. Some of his most prominent roles are his appearances in ER as Dr. Archie Morris, Party of Five as Will McCorkle, Band of Brothers as Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey, and the popular animated sitcom American Dad!, voicing Steve...
as Brad Brown - Nadine Van der VeldeNadine Van der VeldeNadine van der Velde is a Canadian American actress, producer and writer. Van der Velde is a two time Emmy award winner, two time Annie Award winner and a recipient of a Humanitas Award.-Early life and career:...
as April Brown - Don Keith OpperDon Keith OpperDon Keith Opper is an American actor, writer, and producer who has starred in film and on television. He is known for his role as Charlie McFadden in the 1986 science fiction film Critters and all 3 of the sequels. His most recent film is in the 1998 film Where's Marlowe?...
as Charlie McFadden - Billy ZaneBilly ZaneWilliam George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr...
as Steve Elliot - Ethan PhillipsEthan PhillipsEthan Phillips is an American actor, playwright and author. He is known for television roles such as Star Trek: Voyager's Neelix and Benson's Pete Downey.-Personal life:...
as Jeff Barnes - Terrence MannTerrence MannTerrence Vaughan Mann is an American actor, director, singer, songwriter and dancer who has been prominent on the Broadway stage for the past three decades...
as Ug/Johnny Steele - Jeremy Lawrence as Reverend Miller/Preacher
- Lin ShayeLin ShayeLinda "Lin" Shaye is an American film, theatre and television actress.-Early life:Born in Detroit, Michigan, Shaye is the daughter of Dorothy , a homemaker, and Max Mendle Shaye, a painter and supermarket owner. Her brother is film executive Robert Shaye...
as Sally - Corey BurtonCorey BurtonCorey Burton is an American voice actor, perhaps best known as Count Dooku, Ziro the Hutt and Cad Bane in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Brainiac in the DC animated universe and Spike Witwicky and Shockwave in the Transformers universe...
as the voice of the Crites/Critters
Release
The film was released theatrically in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
in April 1986. It turned out to be a modest hit for the company, grossing $13,167,232 at the box office.
The film was released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video the same year. In September 1997, New Line Home Video re-released the film on VHS.
In 2003, New Line Home Entertainment
New Line Home Entertainment
New Line Home Entertainment is the home entertainment distribution arm of New Line Cinema, founded in 1990. According to New Line's website, Misery was the first New Line Home Video release....
released the film on DVD. The film was re-released in a set containing all 4 Critters
Critters (film series)
The Critters film series, from New Line Cinema, comprises four movies that combine elements of horror, science fiction and comedy. The first film, called simply Critters, was released in 1986 and received "two thumbs up" from Siskel and Ebert....
films on DVD by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
in 2010.