Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22487 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-03-21
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1

Synopsis
Four features. In 'Critters' a breakout is underway in a top security prison, and several inhabitants of Death Row escape to the planet Earth. The razor-teethed critters must feed on flesh. Preferably human flesh... Also features 'Critters 2', 'Critters 3' and 'Critters 4: Critters In Space'.

Customer Reviews

Man-eating balls of fur
Critters are small, fury aliens with a veracious appetite who come to earth in order to feed. The films are something of a horror comedy in a similar vain to the Gremlins films. The first film sees the Critters terrorising an isolated farmstead until two shape shifting bounty hunters come to track them down. This film is probably the best of the four being funny and gruesome in equal measure.

The second Critters film is almost a direct sequel to the first and takes place roughly two years later when Critter eggs start to hatch and terrorise the town. Although good this second film is not as the first and is slightly more comedic. Anyone who enjoyed the first should also enjoy the second.

Critters 3 is a significant down-step in quality from the first two and sees the Critters relocate from a rural town to a rundown tenement building in a city. This film has had many of the horror elements removed in favour of some low brow comedy in the same vain as the second Gremlins film. For all this the film is still reasonably enjoyable and has an interesting performance by Leonardo DiCaprio in his first film role.

The fourth and final film in the box set is something of a departure from the first three films and appears to be an attempt at a film in the same vain as Alien. Although not a particularly bad film, Critters 4 is monumentally dull and does have little continuity with the other films. All in all the Critters films are no-nonsense fun and, with the unfortunate exception of the last film, well worth watching.

Critters 1-4
I have given the overal package a 3 star rating, but I will also rate the films individually as follows:

Critters
5/5 rating
This film is a classic, from the pace, the humour, and the action to the good cast and the story. Terry Mann is awesome as the bounty hunter 'Ug'.

Critters 2
4.5/5 rating
A good sequel which adds more to the story and overal I found it equally as entertaining, although not quite as good as the first film.

Critters 3
3.5/5 rating
Critters 3 was an alright film, the lack of Terry Mann (apart from the end of the film) hurt it a bit, but the character of Charlie was a good one to focus on, this isn't a bad film, but didn't quite have the grip of the first 2.

Critters 4
2/5 rating
Unfortunately, this is the only film in the series I found very below average. There's not much screen time for the Critters at all, and destroying an established character for no good reason seemed ridiculous. You can see why this one stalled the series.

The first 2 films are fantastic, the third one is alright for a rainy afternoon, but the 4th is really only worth watching once if at all.

Critters Boxset
I first watched Critters when I was a kid and thought it was pretty scary. The general plot is that these critters land on Earth and are pursued by a couple of bounty hunters. The second film follows on from this one in the same town. I thought it was a decent sequel anyway. The third film has had a lot of criticism but I thought it was pretty good. It has little to do with the first two films apart from the critters themselves and Charlie. Everything takes place in an apartment complex and people get trapped with no way to escape the critters. The fourth film is a bit of a joke. The idea was that Charlie got trapped in this pod and has been floating around in space for 50 years. He eventually gets picked up by another ship and obviously critters get loose. The problem with this film is that the critters are hardly in the film. Another character, Ug, the bounty hunter was a decent guy in the first two films but in this one, he turns out to be very bad. As I say, this film is bad in every way possible.

Anyway, I'm glad the studio have brought out a DVD boxset containing all four films even if the fourth is rubbish. The set contains no special features apart from an alternate ending on the first disk but I never expected any extras for these films. Picture and sound is good