The GBHBL Definitive Ranking of the Critters Movie Series

Five films (and one reboot series) deep, the Critters franchise was born in 1986 with the latest movie, Critters Attack coming 2019.

Based around nasty carnivorous aliens called Krites that escaped a galactic prison and came to Earth. The first two films followed a similar formula of the Krites eating their way through a local population while being hunted by alien bounty hunters.

The third film moved the location to a city and had a young Leonardo DiCaprio make his feature film debut.

Whereas the fourth film took us into space as if often the case with flailing franchises. That film was released in 1992 and that was it until 2019 and the return of the Krites.

It’s not a series that will go down as a classic but there is fun to be had, particularly with the first two films.

As always, this ranking is based on our original scores when we reviewed the movie. If two or more films scored the same, then the order will be based on what we’d prefer to watch again.

5 – Critters Attack! (2019)
Our Score: 3/10

As a fan of the franchise, to see it return from the grave after so many years is very pleasing. It’s such a shame to say that Critters: Attack is a bad movie. Not only is it boring but it barely tries, changes parts of the lore and ends so abruptly it seems as though everyone involved just wanted it to be over too.

The negatives far outweigh the positives and by time the credits abruptly roll, you’ll likely feel relieved that it is over.

You can read our full review here.

4 – Critters 3 (1991)
Our Score: 4/10

Whereas Critters and Critters 2: The Main Course were fun, silly and often gory movies, Critters 3 is a lazy rethread. It’s not like the first two films were classics or anything but this sequel is incredibly boring and very bland.

Critters 3 doesn’t add anything fresh to the franchise nor does it make for an entertaining horror movie on its own. Simply put, it’s a waste of time.

You can read our full review here.

3 – Critters 4 (1992)
Our Score: 5.5/10

Continuing directly after the events of the third film. the best thing that can be said about Critters 4 is the quality of acting.

Critters 4 seems desperate to end after spending the first half building characters and setting up an obvious final conflict. Then once the Critters are released, its pace quickens to such an extent it all starts to blur. This wouldn’t be such a problem if we were witnessed exciting and fresh ideas but we’re not. It’s the same old stuff but with very few amusing moments and not much in the way of gore (although the stuff we do see is decent).

Critters 4 is better than the third film thanks to good acting. As well as a decent plot and its finale that actually ends things with no sequel bait at all.

You can read our full review here.

2 – Critters (1986)
Our Score: 8/10

Critters is a cheesy, fun 80s horror/comedy that’s definitely worth watching if you enjoy 80s horror movies, it takes advantage of some of the ideas that we’ve seen in other movie franchises but that’s not really a bad thing in this case because the spin they put on things actually turns out to be really quite great.

You can read our full review here.

1 – Critters 2: The Main Course (1988)
Our Score: 8.5/10

Critters: The Main Course is a whole load of fun from beginning to end; there are lots of memorable moments and scenes throughout. The movie slows down somewhat during the final act but picks up with the brilliant ball of Critters near the end. Unlike most horror sequels Critters 2 doesn’t deteriorate when it comes to quality, in fact it improves on many of the aspects of the original.

The Critters are in a much larger number and are not confined to a single farm but instead have free roam of an entire town to cause chaos in. Also, Critters 2 increases the level of gore and there are some awesome practical gore effects used which is to be expected from a movie from this era. The acting is believable, the story is fun and the characters are likeable; if you enjoyed the first movie then you’ll likely enjoy this too.

You can read our full review here.