Gremlins may have stopped at only 2 movies and a recent animated TV show, but a lot of its imitators went on to make a killing in the sequel market. Sure, we had one offs like Munchies from Roger Corman and Goobers from the mind of Charles Band which should have rightfully stayed one and done but others wanted in on that franchise action. The Gate would have 2 entries as would Hobgoblins. Troll would get a few sequels, kinda, if you want to go down the rabbit hole of strange Italian sequels in name only that are just called that to capitalize on the profits of other movies and Ghoulies would somehow, miraculously, get 4 films although if I’m being honest, I actually enjoy watching that series. Critters also had 4 (initially) but has a much stronger legacy in terms of enjoyment and interesting background including the fact that even though it came out after Gremlins, the first Critters may have been in various stages of production before and during the making of Gremlins. While 1 is a classic and 2 is one of the few Easter horrors flicks I like to put it on yearly, where does that leave the other two? Part 4 sends the critters, like most of the slasher villains of our time, into space but 3 is a forgotten and mostly maligned entry into a series that mostly holds up. It’s a black sheep if I ever saw one and today it gets its due.
While you can find it easily as one of the 4 Blu-rays included in Scream Factory’s wonderful box set, its original release was in the burgeoning age of home video. Specifically, it was released in the first year of New Line Cinema’s home label being created. New Line Home Entertainment was created in May of 1991 when they decided to release their movies on their own brand after having multiple other companies do their work for them. While they certainly received money for selling the release rights, this allowed them to keep all of the profit and also gave them the idea to look into their catalogue for movies that could get more sequels that maybe weren’t good enough for the big screen but surely ok to go straight to video both for purchase and renting. The first movie made a solid 13 million on its 3-million-dollar budget but part 2 was a certified bomb. Critters 2 got an extra million for its budget but only brought in 3.8 at the box office.
Critters 3 and 4 were actually shot at the same time to capitalize on budget and crew. Critters 3 has the distinction of coming out that first year of New Line Home Entertainment’s life and while I don’t have any revenue numbers, home video was a big deal at the time and Critters was still a name brand. Not an overly impressive one anymore but a name all the same. The director chosen for the project was Kristine Peterson who only had two features to her name before this in Deadly Dreams and Body Chemistry but also would be assistant director on stuff like Tremors, Chopping Mall, and Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child. The story for the film would be developed by producers Rupert Harvey and Barry Opper while the actual screenplay was done by David J Schow. Schow, we have talked about before with his contributions to the Texas Chainsaw franchise and The Crow.
Critters 3 (watch it HERE) has some fun in front of the camera folks too and that probably has to start with Leonardo DiCaprio as one of the leads in his first movie. I think a lot of us go with Johnny Depp in the first Nightmare movie or Jennifer Anniston putting in the work for Leprechaun, but DiCaprio is definitely right there. As you can guess, he hates it, referring to it only when mentioning that all actors make crap from time to time. He would only show up in horror one other time in the horror adjacent Shutter Island. Aimee Brooks, John Calvin, Jeffery Blake, Dianna Bellamy, Bill Zuckert, and Nina Axelrod are all recognizable faces who have done other things in and out of the horror realm. The only carry over from the other films, or at least main one because Ug appears literally during the credits, is Don Keith Opper who has appeared in other TV and movies but really has the distinction of being the only actor to appear in all of the original Critters movies. For better and for worse.
Critters 3 is certainly a forgotten film whether you are talking about within the context of its own series or in general. I get why as the first movie had the small farm location and being the first movie in the series while the second movie expanded to the whole town and the 4th movie went to space, as one does. Part 3 tried to almost remake the first movie with its small setting being duplicated here but transported to a building rather than a farm. It has a similar character dynamic and even copies the fact that there are only two deaths and some characters being poisoned by the Crites thorn darts. I say Crites at least once because I know that’s what they are called even though I grew up calling them Critters and still refer to them that way. The movie doesn’t stand out traditionally even with it being Leo’s movie debut.
One of the things I do love about this movie is that the Chiodo brothers and really family worked on it. From being credited for characters and consulting on the movie to doing the special effects of the little garbage disposal fuzz balls, having them on is a win regardless of how the movie turned out. The creatures still look and act similarly to the previous two movies and even though some of the charm and humor is gone, this isn’t a case of the main draw of the film betraying its source material. The movie does use one of the more common straight to video and sequel tropes though with a character explaining the events of what happened prior while clips of the first two films play in the background. It’s not as egregious as Silent Night Deadly Night 2 where that is 40% of the finished product but it does feel a little lazy.
The movie opens with a family of three moving to a city before getting a flat tire right near a rest stop. We are introduced to pretty much everyone here and their violently 90s wardrobe before Charlie warns a group of kids and us about both a corrupt landlord, who happens to be Leo’s character’s stepdad, and the Critters. We get our previously mentioned flashback before seeing that there are fresh eggs under our new family’s car. We get to the apartment that looks like it could be one of the mazes at universal studios and eventually we get our first kill. It’s set up really well and feels exactly as it should. While there isn’t as much blood as you might hope, it gets the job done. It’s a perfect example of why this movie is worth your time as it’s workman like in every aspect. The characters that die are a holes and the rest of the cast is full of quirky and likeable ones that we hope make it out alive.
The Critters are fun to watch regardless of if it’s a close up of their disgusting and well detailed face or a shot of them rolling to attack someone. They look more believable than Leo playing on his Gameboy in the car at night without the mega light you could purchase to go with it. That’s just plain ridiculous. The movie really picks up when it turns into a siege movie of sorts where the human characters have to keep moving up the apartment building while some of them get poisoned by the quills getting shot at them. The power also goes out and we get a flair lit scene that tries it’s hardest to be something out of Aliens. Leo’s character Josh gets so fed up with his stepfather that he locks him in a room to eventually be the films second and final casualty. I don’t mean that as a knock on the movie either, there is enough tension that we may see nearly any of these characters go at any time.
The remaining characters make it to the very top of the building while the critters eat their way through the rest of the rooms. The adults end up stuck or unable to help while the kids have to put in the extra effort to find a way out before Charlie makes his way back into the movie with all of his gear. With less than 20 minutes to go we get to see some exploding critters that is funny, satisfying, and a good boost of action for the end of the movie. Charlie’s gun malfunctions and the building is mostly on fire before the Critters are reduced to 1 remaining. Charlie is able to help kill it while avoiding death and saving the youngest kid character and the rest of the movie is wrapped up with friendships, burgeoning relationships, and one of the earliest examples of mid and post credits scenes I can remember. This movie also leads directly into part 4 and it’s nice to see a horror series do that let alone a direct to video one.
Critters 3 knows exactly what it is and while I could absolutely see parts be changed or cut out, it’s not the dud its reputation makes it out to be. It’s a fun pairing either with just part 4 or if you are going to run the series and there’s nothing here that your younger, human critters can’t see if they are starting their journey into horror. It was long overdue that we gave this little movie a shout out and it has an important history in both its casting and release. The Critters series should have been left alone after part 4 but we would unfortunately, decades later, get another movie and a TV show that both failed to recapture the magic of the original run. Magic that might I add is wholly present in this maligned third entry. Critters 3 is a fun sci-fi horror flick that is exactly what you think it is, the black sheep of a famous series that deserves much more than it gets.
A couple of the previous episodes of The Black Sheep can be seen at the bottom of this article. To see more, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!