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The Krites -- the titular "Critters" from the eponymous film series -- are small, furry, extraterrestrial eating machines that are essentially dry-land piranhas. Krites only have impulses toward consumption and chaos. They have human intelligence, but are far more interested in eating than philosophy. The first "Critters" movie, directed by Stephen Herek (of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Mr. Holland's Opus" fame) is one of the world's only Easter-themed horror movies, centering on a small Iowa town that discovers Krite eggs and paints them for the Sunday festivities. Naturally, the eggs hatch and the hungry Krites begin wreaking mayhem. Only a pair of alien bounty hunters named Ug (Terrence Mann) and Lee can help in stopping the alien threat.

The Krites can roll up into balls like hedgehogs and trundle quickly from place to place. They can also fire poisonous quills from their backs. They're mean little mothers.

The...

Christmas and Halloween reign supreme in terms of holiday-themed horror to the point that every other holiday pales in comparison when it comes to horror offerings. Easter does have a few selections to offer, but many of them don’t lean into any familiar holiday motifs. Then there are the horror films that get lumped in simply because the villain bears likeness to the Easter bunny. It can be slim pickings. That’s okay, though, because we really only need one solid horror movie to celebrate Easter with. One that isn’t afraid to spill some Easter bunny blood.

Critters 2: The Main Course is that definitive Easter horror movie.

Co-written by David Twohy (Warlock, Pitch Black) and director Mick Garris (The Stand, Masters of Horror), Critters 2 makes clever use of the holiday as a means to implement those remaining Crite eggs stashed away in a barn from the end of Critters.

As some of you fellow horror movie fans out there might already know, this summer an all-new Critters movie is headed our way on digital and Blu-ray starring the original film's actress Dee Wallace (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial). And today Wallace spoke a bit about what enticed her to return to the franchise all of these years later for director Bobby Miller's Critters Attack!.

"I was so happy when they sent me the reboot of Critters. My first question was is this going to be CGI? And they said no, [they] were going to use a lot of the original design of the puppets. It's all going to be puppets. And I went, 'oh, let me read the script.' I liked the script, and I liked my part in it - she's a real ball-buster - but my first concern was if this was going to be CGI. Because in a film like that,...

Stephen Herek’s Critters (1986) was an out-of-left-field minor hit for New Line Cinema; its mix of tongue-in-cheek humor and sci-fi horror clicked with audiences who were still looking for something in a Gremlin-esque vein (although the filmmakers claimed their idea was first), so it was only natural that a sequel would follow. Enter Critters 2: The Main Course, the feature directorial debut of Mick Garris, one of horror’s great gatekeepers, and you know what? It’s as much fun as the first.

Audiences at the time of its late April release, however, didn’t feel the same and the film wasn’t a success, commercially or critically. Much like the Krites themselves, though, time has a way of rolling on and knocking down past perceptions to stop at the point of appreciation: Critters 2 is bigger, bolder, and strives for well-earned laughs that it gets.

But hey, let...