Escaping from a specially-built prison asteroid, a tribe of spiny, sharp-toothed little fuzzballs land in the Kansas farmland, seeking food and mayhem in equal parts. While a local nuclear family investigates the correlating disturbances in their barn, a pair of shape-shifting bounty hunters touch down, change their appearance to pass as human and explore the town in search of the tiny fugitives.

_Critters_ is a case of all or nothing. In a few very specific instances, it works shockingly well. The bounty hunters are a riot, deathly serious while completely oblivious to why they're raising suspicion amongst the locals. Here’s a hint: even in the mid ‘80s, there weren’t a lot of glamorously feather-haired rock stars marching around the Bible belt wearing head-to-toe red leather. One dumbfounded native sums it up succinctly: they “look like they was from Los Angeles.” Which might as well be Uranus, as these folks are concerned. So the hunters are a worthwhile addition; comic relief and well-armed backup all rolled into one. The creatures look reasonably good, too. They’re unique, with a few odd defense mechanisms and a quaint habit for ominously rolling through the dusty terrain like dark tumbleweeds. And we don’t want for blood or guts when they’re around. They even kill off a teenage Billy Zane while he’s trying to get laid! That’s about the extent of the good news.

The bad news is, we only catch sight of the good stuff in limited quantities. Very limited quantities. Far too much running time is dedicated to the dull little family and their dreary little community, wasted attempts at character development that go absolutely nowhere. The interminable wait for shit to hit fan is excruciating amidst so much trite, ham-fisted exposition. Where did the tiny gray demons go? Can they have these people for dinner already?