31 Days of Horror 2023 Day 27 Critters

 

TITLE-Critters

SOURCE-WB DVD

Every so often I watch a movie and think I wish I hadn't already covered this for 31 days of Horror. Then go check my master list and realize I haven't. That is what happened with Critters. I was sure I  covered it years ago. Nope.

Set in a tiny town. A bunch of aliens,known as Krites,who are like deadly porcupine/hedgehog combos land. With two bounty hunters hot on their trail.

This simple premise that has been done before ended up birthing a franchise that has produced 5 films so far and a fairly large fanbase.

So what made this movie so memorable? What made it stand out from the onslaught of Gremlins clones in the mid 80s? One thing is the Chiodo brothers and their studio handled making the puppets/Krites. But it was how the film balanced that line between horror made for adults and horror kids can watch. Yea it has a PG13 rating. But there isn't much gore or extreme violence in the movie.

The cast ain't bad with Dee Wallace and Don Keith Opper being the stand outs. Now sure most reading this know who Dee is,But Don Keith Opper seems to be unknown unless you are a big Critters fan. His character of Charlie is the lynchpin that keeps this franchise going. 

Charlie starts off as the town drunk. Not far from rock bottom and only still surviving cause most of the small town feels for him. But by the end of the film he has a purpose. He will go off and hunt krites.

If you never seen it track down the first film and give it a watch. No clue where it is streaming currently. If you enjoy it find this 4 pack. Seen it selling as cheap as 7 bucks.

Critters gets a B.