Critters 2: The Main Course (1988)

Review by All Movie Guide
Sequels are made with fans of the original in mind, and those who were charmed by the first installment of this comic horror franchise will likely have fun the second time around. The first Critters, of course, was heavily indebted to the success of Joe Dante's 1984 hit Gremlins, borrowing the concept of a swarming horde of miniature monsters that are simultaneously cute and horrific, tearing up an unsuspecting small town until a coed team of young folks can discover a way to stop them. Critters was no match for its forerunner, but it was arguably the best of a bad bunch of rip-offs that included Ghoulies, Munchies, and Hobgoblins, most of which went straight to video but proved popular enough to warrant sequels of their own. Critters 2: The Main Course is a genial sci-fi story that offers no surprises to genre fans. Most of the film is suitable for children and seems to be aimed at a pre-teen audience, but there are some unusually graphic gore scenes for a PG-13 production, and brief but gratuitous female nudity. Sure, sure, the kids of today are more sophisticated, they can handle it, they've seen it all on the Internet, whatever. It's just that few viewers over the age of 15 are likely to care for this film, and parents with qualms about cinematic excess might consider it too gruesome for tender eyes. Perhaps Critters 2 can be thought of as training wheels for young film fans who are preparing themselves for stronger stuff -- too young yet for the grisly heights of Alien but yearning for something with more gross-out power than Back to the Future. Be forewarned: This film features Eddie Deezen. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide