Critters 4 (1992)

Director:

Rupert Harvey

Writers (WGA):

Rupert Harvey (story) &
Barry Opper (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 October 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

In space, they love to hear you scream!

Plot:

After being cryogenically frozen and waking up on a space station in the near future, the Critters aim to have the unwitting crew for lunch.

Plot Keywords:

Future | Laser Gun | Talking Computer | Man Eating Monster | Hung From A Hook

Cast

Don Keith Opper	...	Charlie McFadden
Terrence Mann	...	Counselor Tetra / Ug
Paul Whitthorne	...	Ethan
Anders Hove	...	Rick
Angela Bassett	...	Fran
Brad Dourif	...	Al Bert
Eric DaRe	...	Bernie
Martine Beswick	...	Angela (voice)
Anne Ramsay	...	Dr. McCormick

Directed by
Rupert Harvey

Writing credits (WGA)
Rupert Harvey		(story) &
Barry Opper		(story)
Joseph Lyle		(screenplay) and
David J. Schow		(screenplay)

Produced by
Rupert Harvey	....	producer
Barry Opper	....	producer
Mark Ordesky	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Peter Manning Robinson

Cinematography by
Thomas L. Callaway

Film Editing by
Terry Stokes

Casting by
Nina Axelrod

Production Design by
Philip Dean Foreman

Art Direction by
Jeff Wallace

Set Decoration by
Linette Forbes Shorr

Costume Design by
Jami Burrows

Makeup Department
Barrie Buckner	....	hair stylist
Christina Criswell	....	assistant makeup artist
Suzanne Parker Sanders	....	hair stylist
Suzanne Parker Sanders	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Evan Edelist	....	post-production supervisor
Deborah Moore	....	executive in charge of production
David Witz	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stuart B. Hagen	....	second assistant director
Barry Opper	....	second unit director
Romney Pearl	....	second assistant director
John E. Vohlers	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Marsha A. Alexander	....	art department coordinator
Greg Aronowitz	....	prop designer
Tony Bonaventura	....	property master
Thomas Cooper	....	property assistant/special props fabricator
Bryan Corbett	....	propmaker
Scott Dietz	....	lead scenic artist
Ron Ervin	....	carpenter
Philip Madison	....	set designer
Peter Mitchell	....	storyboard artist
Tom O'Brien	....	construction coordinator
Alejandro Patino	....	construction foreman
Peter Mitchell Rubin	....	storyboard artist
Robert Somerton	....	carpenter

Sound Department
Tony Berkeley	....	adr editor
Brad Blake	....	supervising sound editor
Harry Cohen	....	digital sound designer
Marc Fishman	....	sound effects editor
José Antonio García	....	sound mixer
Brian Geer	....	foley mixer
Lewis Goldstein	....	dialogue editor (as Lou Goldstein)
Ossama Khuluki	....	foley artist
Jeff Porrello	....	boom operator
R. Russell Smith	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ken Teaney	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Jason Bakutis	....	puppeteer
Frank Ceglia	....	special effects
Tom Ceglia	....	special effects assistant
John Deall	....	special effects crew
Steve Fink	....	special effects makeup
Paul Haines	....	special effects assistant
Jarn Heil	....	special effects technician
Dean Mercil	....	special effects technician
Paul Salamoff	....	special effects makeup
Tom Williamson	....	animatronics

Visual Effects by
Diana Dru Botsford	....	visual effects consultant
Amy L. Crandall	....	visual effects editor
Amy Pawlowski	....	visual effects editor

Stunts
Dan Bradley	....	stunt coordinator
Ray Lykins	....	stunts
Mike H. McGaughy	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Aaron	....	still photographer
Waide R. Allen	....	key grip
Giles Dunning	....	still photographer
Dave Footman	....	best boy grip
Greg Kidd	....	second assistant camera
James A. Lebovitz	....	additional camera operator
Gerry O'Malley	....	first assistant camera
James Lawrence Spencer	....	director of photography: second unit
James Lawrence Spencer	....	gaffer
Rick Tiedeman	....	steadicam operator
David Watson	....	best boy electric
Kerrec 'K-Man' Williams	....	gaffer: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gabrielle Spanswick	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Joe Fineman	....	executive in charge of post-production
Thalia Harithas	....	post-production coordinator
Pamela Hilse	....	post-production administrator
Marnie Pope	....	associate editor
Jim Williams	....	color timer

Music Department
Fil Brown	....	music engineer
Dan Raziel	....	music engineer

Transportation Department
Greg Jacobs	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
John Criswell	....	special makeup effects artist
Elizabeth Ervin	....	production coordinator
Christy Fiero	....	assistant accountant (as Christy Susskind)
Diane H. Newman	....	script supervisor
Scott Ritt	....	laser effects
Brad Stephens	....	publicist
Julia Zane	....	production accountant (as Julia Guild)

Production Companies

• New Line Cinema
• OH Films

Distributors

• New Line Cinema (1991) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sidéral Films (1994) (France) (theatrical)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2003) (UK) (TV) (BBC2)
• Entertainment in Video (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (199?) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• New Line Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• New Line Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• VPS Film-Entertainment GmbH (199?) (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Hollywood Optical Systems (photographic visual effects)

Other Companies

• Chiodo Brothers Productions  critters creation
• Cinelease  grip and electric equipment
• Creative Casting  casting
• Encore Video  dailies video transfer
• Epix Systems  editing equipment
• Magic Film Works  negative cutting
• Shawn's Catering  catering

Also Known As:

"Critters 4: They're Invading Your Space" - USA (promotional title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Iceland:16 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

There are mostly only two Critters in this movie, and the second one gets a haircut from a laser rifle, in order to separate the looks for both Critters. However this is also an obvious reference to Critters 2 where one Critters gets a similar haircut from a laser rifle held by a bounty hunter.

Goofs:

Continuity: Although significant dialog and on-screen dating indicate the setting is the year 2045, Ethan's hand-made calendar visibly shows August 2342.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Charlie:[Charlie finds the last Critter eggs] Alright you gum-balls.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The House That Freddy Built (2006) (V)

I want the 53 light-years of my life back!

I think there must exist some unwritten rule in horror which states that, after a certain number of sequels to a successful franchise, there has to be one installment that takes place in outer space… Usually the space episodes are unspeakably terrible, though. Remember "Leprechaun in Space"? The retarded "Hellraiser: Bloodline" of which even the director distanced himself? Or Jason "Friday the 13th" Voorhees' little adventure in space entitled "Jason X"? On paper, a "Critters" in space didn't even sound like too much of a bad idea because – after all – the munching little monsters are originally an extraterrestrial species. That is unfortunately just on paper, as part four is an awfully boring and idiotic sequel that hasn't got anything to do with the joyful 1986 original anymore and it even makes the mediocre "Critters 3" looks like a cinematic masterpiece.

Parts three and four was shot back-to-back, hence the closing sequence of the third and the opening sequence of the fourth are exactly the same. Since I, too, watched both films back to back, that was already a huge waste of time. The intro shows how recurring "hero" Charlie is about to destroy two Krites eggs when all of a sudden he receives a message from his mentor Ug; stating that those eggs are the last remaining of the species and have to be preserved. Charlie has to bring them back to the home planet, but something goes wrong and his capsule gets lost in space. Many years later, the floating ship is discovered by an expedition full of highly unlikely astronauts and naturally those idiots also unfreeze the eggs. There's a very significant moment in "Critters 4", when the spaceship crew explains Charlie where he is and how long he floated around in outer space. The look on his imbecilic face when he realizes that he just wasted 53 years of his life is also exactly how I felt throughout watching the entire movie! What an incredible waste of time. The Critters were apparently not interesting enough anymore to the writers and they actually just have supportive roles here. Instead, the big hero of the first three movies – Bounty hunter Ug – has become an malignant planetary ruler and the some spaceship crew members as well have bad and perverted intentions. The Critters, most of the time only two of them, simply just roll around a little bit and they don't even fire off anymore poisonous darts. Brad Dourif gives a reliable performance, as always, and Angela Bassett (still in an early phase of her career) shows her naked butt – which is a nice detail – but there's absolutely no reason to track this dud down.