Critters 4

Stars: Brad Dourif (Horseplayer, voice of Chucky in Child's Play (1-3), Jungle Fever), Don Opper (Android, Critters series). Leapin lizards! The Krites are back. This amiable rip-off of Gremlins which began with Critters in 1986 and a bigger-budget sequel Critters 2: The Main Course in 1988, returned after a four-year hiatus with back-to-back filmed direct-to-video releases Critters 3 and Critters 4. 4 picks up right where 3 left off, with Charlie (Opper) the critter hunter being blasted into space along with a pair of Krite eggs. When a refuse-collecting ship picks up the capsule with Charlie and the eggs and docks at an empty space station, the Alien-lifted plot is set in motion. Unfortunately, 4 is the worst of the bunch with flat characters, lame homages to other sci-fi classics, and too little critter action. While the first three entries were reasonably entertaining tongue-in-cheek low-budget horror sendups, this latest entry is more sci-fi oriented (only without the brains) and idle banter between the actors and the shipboard computer is a poor substitute for chomping critters.DVD Review--September 9, 2003--New Line, 94 min., PG-13, $19.98--"Let's roll." Long before Lisa Beamer's husband made the courageous phrase a haunting and poignant reminder of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it was used in a much more benign and humorous sense as the subtitled attack command of a troupe of Gremlins rip-off furballs in the four-film sci-fi horror Critters series, a cult classic guilty pleasure now available on DVD in handsome widescreen transfers, with Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks, and…not…much…else. Here's the lineup: Critters (1986, Stephen Herek's [Life or Something Like It] directing debut, featuring Dee Wallace-Stone), Critters 2: The Main Course (1988, written by Pitch Black scribe David Twohy), Critters 3: You Are What They Eat (1991, Leonardo DiCaprio's feature film debut), and Critters 4 (1991, with Angela Bassett). Bottom line: fans will enjoy this cult favorite series. (R. Pitman)