This April marks four decades since the film “Critters” arrived in U.S. theaters. The plot follows a group of small, furry aliens with carnivorous behavior who, fleeing two shape-shifting bounty hunters, crash-land in a small rural town on Earth to feast on its inhabitants. This film was directed by Stephen Herek in his debut as a director and co-written by Herek and Domonic Muir. After the release of the first entry, others joined the franchise.

The premiere

Title: Critters

Running time: 86 minutes

Genre: Science Fiction  

Director: Stephen Herek

Rating: PG-13

Release: April 11, 1986

The cast

Dee Wallace: Helen Brown

Emmet Walsh: Harv

Billy  Green Bush: Jay Brown 

Scott Grimes: Brad Brown 

Nadine Van der Velde: April Brown

Billy Zane: Steve Elliot

The story

A group of small but fierce alien creatures, called Critters, escape from an alien penitentiary transport ship and land near a small rural farming town on Earth, pursued by two shape-shifting bounty hunters.

The franchise

The “Critters” franchise includes five films spanning science fiction, horror and comedy. 

Critters: 1986

Critters 2: The Main Course: 1988

Critters 3: 1991

Critters 4: 1992

Critters Attack!: 2019

On television

“Critters: A New Binge” is a television series that premiered on Shudder on March 21, 2019. As a reboot of the original franchise, the series is set in Livingston, Iowa, and features completely new characters.

For home viewing

The film was released on VHS and LaserDisc by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video following its theatrical release. In September 1997, New Line Home Video re-released the film on VHS. New Line Home Entertainment released “Critters” on DVD in 2003, and Warner Bros. re-released it in 2010 in a set that included the four films of the “Critters” saga.