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Critters
Movie

Critters

1986 • Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

A massive ball of furry creatures from another world eat their way through a small mid-western town followed by intergalactic bounty hunters opposed only by militant townspeople.

Overall Series Review

Critters is a campy 1986 science fiction horror-comedy centered on a rural family fighting for survival against a horde of ravenous alien invaders. The story takes place on a small Kansas farm, presenting an archetypal conflict of a quintessentially American family defending their homeland against a monstrous, external threat. The narrative drive is pure action, creature effects, and dark humor, entirely unconcerned with modern social or political anxieties. A pair of shapeshifting alien bounty hunters arrive in the town, adding an element of chaotic collateral damage as they relentlessly pursue the titular creatures. The film's energy is squarely focused on the physical struggle to protect the home and the family unit from being eaten.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

Characters are judged solely on their courage and capacity for action against the monsters, embodying a universal meritocracy. Race or intersectional status is not a factor in the plot or character definitions. The focus is on a family unit fighting for their lives.

Oikophobia1/10

The central plot involves a family in a rural American town actively defending their home and 'homeland' from a malevolent external force. The Brown family is depicted as a resilient, pioneering unit struggling to survive, directly affirming the value of the domestic institution and the community.

Feminism2/10

The mother and daughter are strong, active participants in the defense of the home, exhibiting protective strength and ingenuity during the crisis. The male figures, the father and son, are also protective and decisive. The dynamic showcases a complementary family structure where all members contribute to survival, avoiding the emasculation of males or a 'Mary Sue' archetype.

LGBTQ+1/10

The narrative makes no mention of sexual identity, gender theory, or alternative sexuality. The story revolves entirely around the fight between a traditional nuclear family and the alien creatures. The structure of the male-female pairing and family is accepted as the natural standard under attack.

Anti-Theism3/10

The bounty hunters, who are chaotic anti-heroes, destroy a Baptist church during their mission to eliminate the Crites. This act introduces an element of sacrilege and irreverence toward a religious institution. However, the church and faith are otherwise peripheral, and the story’s moral core remains a basic battle of good (family) versus objective evil (Crites).