Editorials
[It Came From the ’80s] The Pint-Sized Terror of ‘Critters’
With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology. Artists like Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tom Savini, Stan Winston, and countless other artists that delivered groundbreaking, mind-blowing practical effects that ushered in the pre-CGI Golden Age of Cinema. Which meant a glorious glut of creatures in horror. More than just a technical marvel, the creatures on display in ‘80s horror meant tangible texture that still holds up decades later. Grotesque slimy skin to brutal transformation sequences, there wasn’t anything the artists couldn’t create. It Came From the ‘80s is a series that will pay homage to the monstrous, deadly, and often slimy creatures that made the ‘80s such a fantastic decade in horror.
With news of a new TV series in the works, and plot details emerging, there’s no better time than now to revisit the pint-sized Krites spun from the mind of screenwriter Dominic Muir, director Stephen Herek (who also re-wrote the script), and created by the sorely underrated special effects team the Chiodo Brothers. Though written before 1984, thanks to the success of Joe Dante’s Gremlins, the film was finally greenlit and promoted by New Line as their answer to Gremlins. The small fury Krites with their glowing red eyes and rows of pointy teeth hailed from the depths of space, with a penchant for mischief-making and an unparalleled appetite. Which was terrible news for the small farming town in which they crash landed, and only a spunky boy and extraterrestrial bounty hunters could stand in their way.
Despite a budget of around $2 million, a very small fraction of that went to developing special effects, and the production window was very limited. Considering how integral the little furry terrors were to the film’s success, this meant a high-pressure job for whoever was hired for the handle it. Luckily for production, and for viewers, Charlie, Steve, and Ed Chiodo, and their small crew of talented special effect artists were hired for the difficult task. Whether the titular critters were terrorizing the Brown family, forming giant toothy balls barreling through a Kansas town, terrorizing Leonardo DiCaprio in apartment buildings, or even making meals out of space crews, you could be sure that they’d look great thanks to the consistent work of the Chiodo Bros. Productions in every entry.
The first film, released in April 1986, featured around eight murderous little fur balls, and one lead 4’ tall Krite revealed during the climax. With adorably disproportionate mouths to their tiny bodies and miniature limbs, it wasn’t just their rows of sharp teeth that caused harm, but their venomous quills as well. If they weren’t feasting on flesh like piranhas, they were temporarily sedating their prey for snack time later. With the expressive animatronics behind the Krite puppets and the voice work of Corey Burton, it’s hard to tell whether you want to destroy the critters or keep one as a pet.
In Critters, the Chiodo brothers had to get creative with the limited budget. Which meant crafting a series of prosthetics and facial features to apply to the base critter mechanical puppet to differentiate between critter characters, when they didn’t have the budget or time to craft a separate puppet for each character called for in the script. Other puppets were built for less complicated or specific tasks, like one that could be thrown at actors like a ball, or one that would be able to emote swallowing. It was an intensive progress, and Critters was the first movie that the Chiodo Brothers production team played such a key role in designed, creating, and handling the creature special effects.
The modest success of the film meant an easy greenlight for a sequel, which came with double the budget of the first film. More Krites on screen as well as more puppets created behind the scenes, and an updated appearance meant Critters 2: The Main Course looked even cooler. Directed by Mick Garris, the sequel brings back protagonist Brad Brown (Scott Grimes), bounty hunter Ug (Terrence Mann), and town drunk turned bounty hunter Charlie (Don Keith Opper) to fight the return of the Krite invasion due to lingering eggs. Just in time for an Easter egg hunt, of course! The bigger budget also meant a higher body count with more gruesome effects, culminating in a finale so humorous and neat that it was featuring on the cover box; the Critball.
These little aliens might have a never-ending hunger for flesh and a potty mouth in their own native tongue, but they know when to band together against their foes. Just when the Grover Bend townsfolk thought they’d destroyed them, the Krites merge together to form one massive, steamrolling eating frenzy.
Critters 2: The Main Course was the last in the series to be released theatrically, in April 29, 1988. The subsequent two sequels were direct-to-video releases in the early ‘90s, and not nearly as fun. Even still, the fantastic design and animatronic work behind these fun ‘80s carnivorous creatures meant a memorable franchise every bit as deserving of a revival TV series in a modern setting.
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
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