Critters 3

In case you don't know, 'Critters 3' is best known for being the first ever film to feature Leonardo DiCaprio. Here, he plays a kid who is a kid. Then, forever after, he was destined to play an adult who looks like a kid. But then that's just me being bitter at his seeming inability to age.

Anyway, if you haven't seen 'Critters 3' then you might want to start with the first two, as they're arguably better and, well, chronology and all that. The Critters are little alien monsters who crash-landed on Earth and generally eat everyone and everything – or rather everyone and everything who isn't one of the lead cast. These baddies tend to only eat people you won't really care about. Or at least they certainly do now! I haven't seen another monster/slasher film where the villains do so little damage to so few people. If the Critters franchise was ever really classed as 'horror' (which it wasn't really – it was more only every horror with a spoonful of comedy). Now, it really is played out tongue-in-cheek with no real attempts to scare you. The Critters roll and bounce around the place, bumping into things and come across more like Mr Bean with bigger teeth than anything that really threatens humankind.

Critters 3 is a short film. And for good reason. There really isn't that much in the way of plot to fill it. You get the little monsters brought back from the countryside into a big city. You'd think that with the added number of human-prey this would make a change from the farm-country the previous two were set in. However, the whole film is basically set in one apartment block. And, for some reason, no one (Critter or human) ever really seems to make much of a play to leave the building. You could argue that this creates an air of tension and claustrophobia. But it doesn't. It's just a cheap continuation of the franchise.

Yes, I know I'm being kind of negative. And this is yet another step down for the franchise. But that's not to say that I didn't find some enjoyment in it. The Critters themselves – one again – are the real stars and, for all their 'prat-falls' they're still quite fun to watch.

If you like your eighties monster-horror films then you're probably best off sticking to the first one (which most people seem to think is best, personally, I preferred part 2, but anyway...). However, if you REALLY like the Critters and want to see more of them, you can try this – it's the sort of film where you can surf the net and watch it at the same time and still miss much. Plus, did I mention it had baby-faced Leo in it? He's being chased my fur-balls – c'mon, that's got to be worth watching, right?

The DVD-cover suggests that - following two episodes set in the remote Kansas countryside area - the Krites will now be spreading fear and terror in the big city, but the truth is they never get any further than running amok in a ramshackle old apartment building and frightening a handful of its tenants. Part three in the series is an okay time-waster, but very forgettable and obviously lacking the joyous and charming spirit of the first two films. It sometimes seems that, with entering the 1990's, it suddenly became impossible to make cheesy & light-headed horror like they did in the 1980's. Oh well, at least number three is still a dozen times better than the truly awful fourth installment, which was shot back-to-back with this one and takes place in outer space. "Critters 3" particularly marks the further and irreversible descent of the franchise into comical territory. Mainly due to the eccentric design of the monsters – courtesy of the amazing Chiodo Brothers – the series bathes in a light-headed and silly atmosphere, but the two previous films nevertheless found a better balance between the comedy aspects and genuine horror. Here, the little supposedly ravenous and evil creatures almost look like tiny stand up comedians. They giggle non-stop, eat beans and fart, watching cooking programs on TV and entertain themselves with food fights. Meanwhile, a bizarre posse of low-keyed tenants (among them THE Leonardo DiCaprio in his very first long-feature film) attempt to escape the Critter-terror through fleeing to the roof. Why they just don't go out via the front door, I don't know… Don Opper reprises his role as bounty hunter Charlie, and he seems to get more imbecilic with every episode. I don't really feel like mocking DiCaprio's appearance because, in all honesty, he gives a good performance and depicts a likable teenage character.

The effects were still great, the acting worked, and I liked the characters... but it was missing something.I don't know what but it was. I still recommend it of course and I decently enjoyed it. Critters 3 was not as much horror and more funny but it still worked. The critter effects have slightly changed but still basically the same. The critters are now more slimy and darker in color. It was great to see Charlie return again Leonardo DiCaprio did a great job in his role as Josh. Having a critter main protagonist was interesting and fun, and I liked the development in the other critter's characters also. It was very slightly off beat but fun to watch and entertaining. To sum it all up it was not as good as #2 but stayed true to the original.

A group of people find themselves face-to-face with the ravenous, intergalactic toothy terrors known as Krites, and must battle for their lives—this time in a run down, inner-city tenement block. Help eventually arrives in the form of heavily armed Krite hunter Charlie (Don Opper) and chaos ensues.

Critters 3 is most notable for being the less-than-auspicious movie debut of triple Oscar-nominated, Hollywood A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio. Unsurprisingly, Leo acquits himself rather well, doing all one could really ask of a kid acting opposite crap hand puppets, but with the script being little more than an uninspired rehash of elements from the previous two efforts, even the acting talent of DiCaprio cannot prevent this from being very mediocre B-movie nonsense.

Also starring a young Aimee Brooks, the total hottie from 2003 horror flick Monster Man, and Joseph and Christian Cousins, who played the sickeningly cute kid from Kindergarten Cop.

Okay I was a big fan of the first Critters movie. In fact I love it with a passion, but the sequels are bad. This one isn't the worst. I would have to say that this is the best sequel that came out of the series. Plays more of a comedy than a Science Fiction-Horror flick but hey what are you going to do?