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Critters 4: They're Invading Your Space Reviews

Picking up immediately where the previous entry in the CRITTERS series left off, this sequel largely lacks, among other things, one very important element: the critters themselves. Earthly critter hunter Charlie (Don Keith Opper) is mopping up after the tenement action of CRITTERS 3 when he comes upon some unhatched critter eggs in the basement. But he's prevented from destroying them by the appearance of the hologram form of Ug (Terrence Mann), which appears before him, instructing him that these are the last surviving form of the species, and intergalactic law prohibits their extinction. An unmanned space pod arrives to pick up the eggs, but Charlie also gets caught within it and is whisked into space. Some 50 years later, a small spacecraft traversing the galaxy comes upon the pod, and it is brought inside. The small crew, which includes hot-tempered captain Rick (Anders Hove), level-headed pilot Fran (Angela Bassett), youthful Ethan (Paul Whitthorne), eccentric computer expert Al Bert (Brad Dourif) and Bernie (Eric DaRe), receive a transmission from the Terracor company instructing them not to tamper with the pod, but to bring it to a nearby space station. Although the crew is offered three times the usual salvage payment, Rick tries to force more money out of Terracor before Fran stops him. Once the group arrives at the station, however, they discover that the place has been abandoned, and that its nuclear reactor is on yellow alert. Increasingly frustrated, Rick breaks into the pod; he's discovered by Ethan, whom he threatens and then knocks unconscious. The frightened Charlie then crawls out from inside the pod and is similarly attacked by Rick, whom he tries to warn about the danger that's arrived with him. But the critter eggs have already hatched, and the little monsters immediately set upon Rick, killing him before rolling off into the depths of the station. Charlie revives Ethan, and the two manage to make it back to the others; the rest of the crew have already discovered Rick's body, and Charlie, after getting over the shock of finding himself in the 21st century, convinces them of what's going on. Using a computer card, Al discovers that the station contains a biological research lab that had been used to create warfare organisms. Bernie then swipes the card in order to break into the pharmaceutical storeroom to steal drugs, but is killed by the critters. As the survivors make ready to leave the station, another spaceship arrives, and Charlie is happy to see his old friend Ug among the landing party. However, the familiar face turns out to actually be Terracor Counselor Tetra (Mann), concerned only with safely retrieving the critters, and he shoots Al when the latter confronts him. Tetra then sends his stormtroopers out to find the eggs, but Ethan locks them in the genetics lab, where the critters have mutated themselves into even more grotesque killers. With the nuclear core now on the verge of meltdown, Ethan confronts Tetra with what he claims are the last remaining eggs, and Charlie ultimately shoots the villain. After fighting off one of the mutated critters, Ethan joins Fran and Charlie on Tetra's ship, and the group takes off with Charlie at the helm just in time to escape the exploding station. By the fourth film in a monster-movie series, it's hardly advisable to play coy with the creatures, but that's exactly what the makers of CRITTERS 4 have done. The screen time allotted the little monsters could hardly be more than ten minutes or so; the rest of the running time is taken up with pat conflicts, underheated character development and lots of techno-speak. As in the previous films, this entry attempts to appeal to young audiences by making its protagonist a teenager, yet misses the sense of anarchic humor and gleeful critter mischief that were really behind the original's success. Director Rupert Harvey worked as a producer on the previous CRITTERS films, and his debut at the helm is good-looking but largely bereft of dramatic interest. There's more hardware on view than in the earlier installments, and the special effects are generally impressive for a low-budget project, but they're used in the service of a derivative plot that borrows liberally from the last two ALIEN films and even the original STAR WARS (as when Charlie and Ethan get trapped in a giant trash compartment). The cast is decent in undemanding parts, with the prolific Dourif (SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION, GRIM PRAIRIE TALES) barely given the chance to exercise his offbeat acting muscles and Bassett hardly overshadowing her earlier work in BOYZ N THE HOOD and CITY OF HOPE, or Spike Lee's epic MALCOLM X. Even the Critters seem to be going through the motions, which hopefully marks the end of this clearly exhausted series. (Violence, profanity.)