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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1986)
— 5 — Movie Review Parody Critters is creepy-crawly fun By Matt Diedrich Staff Writer '‘Critters” gives new meaning to the word "derivative.” It bor rows a little from “Close En counters," a little from “The Terminator” and even a little from “Q, the Winged Serpent.” And, needless to say, it borrows a lot from “Gremlins.” The surprise about this movie is it’s not half bad. Any one who has seen “Ghoulies” knows about bad ripoffs. Fortu- natelv, “Critters” belongs to a much rarer breed: the good ri- poff. The “Critters” of the title are eight nastv little furballs with long poinitv teeth. Unlike the Gremlins, they’re an extrater restrial race (officially named the Crites). After they escape from a prison asteroid light- vears a wav from Earth, the warden (an enormous lump of mucus) hires two intergalactic bounty hunters to seek them out. Unfortunately, the hunters don’t catch up with the Crites until long after they reach Earth. This is bad news for the Browns, a typical rural family whose house is besieged by the ferocious fluffs of fur. While the Crites are trying to make a meal of the Browns, the bounty hunters land in a nearby small town and proceed to shoot it to pieces a la “The Ter minator.” The bounty hunters are also shape-changers, capa ble of taking the form of any of the townspeople, including the local minister. Needless to say, “Critters” is not a movie to be taken se riously. There are plenty of great, scary moments, espe cially when the Browns barri cade themselves in their house and tiy to fend off the Crites. But these scenes are balanced by a surprising amount of gen uine humor. The scenes involving the bounty hunters, a Laurel-and- Hardv pair if there ever was one, are especially funny. In stead of killing Crites, they spend their time blowing away television sets, pianos and a great deal of architecture. This hilarious parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the movie’s best aspects. “Critters” is not without weaknesses, however. It takes far too long to get going, and with a running time of only 80 minutes, it’s over much too quickly. The special effects are also laughably fake, but often this adds to the humor rather than detracting from the horror. The closing sequence, though, is a shameful excuse for showing neato visual effects. In terms of plot, it makes no sense what soever. The cast isn’t that great, ei ther, but it's good enough. Dee Wallace Stone, as Mrs. Brown (her third “mother” role in a row), is no longer in danger of becoming typecast; she already is. Her performance is essen- tially the same one she gave in “E.T." and “Cujo,” and it re mains about as effective. Scott Grimes does a much better job as the Browns’ voung son, a typical kid who has a penchant for firecrackers. Al though his constant heroism eventually becomes tiresome, Grimes manages to sustain a consistent level of believability that wins the viewer over. The cast also includes the un derrated M,, Emmet Walsh as the town sheriff, a role he’s per fected. If you can ignore the obvious rip-off elements, you might en joy “Critters.” It certainly won’t be remembered a year from now, but as an infectiously fun escape from realitv it succeeds admirably. COLLEGE STATION HILTON Cooffr^ce Center !; April Showr Special. .. .NTHQDPCINO ! ! «t:T CRASH! ! ! rr- X'CTORY NIGHT Ti: SPAY APRIL 3 MV CRASH TO ALL LADIES $3.00 ONLY 110 ROUND FIGHT IN NEW ORLEANS 1893 JtO PERSON THOMAS JEFFERSON B. 1743 BRAM STOKER DIES 1912 'Mi m Ccirl's I'.looHl' *fl’* t ‘ \ i l"-' DAYLIGHT SAVINGS BEGINS EVERY MONDAY!!! $1.00 COVER AFTER 9 SI.00 DRINKS BEER AND BAR BRANDS 7 SI.00 COVER AFTER 9 SI.00 DRINKS BEER AND BAR BRANDS Irst ANNUAL NF.RD OR NERDETTE CONTEST!!! PRIZE POOL PARTY: REGISTRY,? 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