Critters Review
This pleasant, old-fashioned diversion posits eight hungry little furballs called Crites snatching a spaceship and escaping from their prison planet. They come to Earth, landing in a small Kansas town and pursued by a pair of shape-shifting bounty hunters. One takes the guise of a famous rock star named Johnny Steele (Terrence_Mann of A_Chorus_Line), while the other snatches various guises from the people he meets. Meanwhile, the Crites are eating everything in sight and terrorizing a farmer's family. And a wholesome family it is, too, with mischievous son Brad (Scott_Grimes of Night_Life), precocious daughter April (Nadine_Van_Der_Velde), and perfect housewife Helen (Dee_Wallace of The_Howling). Don_Opper is funny as the semi-retarded handyman Charlie, who is always hearing aliens through the fillings in his teeth, and Blood_Simple's M._Emmet_Walsh is in fine form as the town sheriff. An interesting kiddie-oriented ploy has the bounty hunters almost as destructive as the Crites until they are befriended by young Grimes. Kids will enjoy the Crites, well designed to be both fearsome and cute by the Chiodo_Brothers, who would go on to make the fun, silly Killer_Klowns_From_Outer_Space, while adults will groove on the nifty transformation effects by R._Christopher_Biggs and the 1950s monster-movie ambience. Look for a young Billy_Zane as Van_Der_Velde's doomed boyfriend, and a funny exchange between a hungry Crite and a toy ET. There were three sequels, none directed by Herek, who went on to 101_Dalmatians. Robert Firsching, Rovi
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