Critters: A New Binge

This series is basically a short movie broken down into 8 parts of 10 minutes. Not sure why they did that...if they released this on a weekly format, the people would riot! It really captures the essence of the first movie, a monster film with humor. Even though the series looks like it was done with less then a shoe string budget...more like an IOU paper slips budget but the writing is very good, especially the Critter's dialog. It's hilarious...truly hilarious. It doesn't take itself seriously at all and it comes off as a goofy campy experience...brings back the nostalgia for sure.

This was an amazingly great find on Shudder when it was available. Otherwise, it can be difficult to track down on streaming sites. It takes up after the original series was made and follows a family who is affected by the invading presence of the Critters. The acting by Joey Morgan, Thomas Lennon, and Gilbert Gottfried is a delight to watch during the series. It is hilarious and a wonderful casting selection that pushes as though in ode to the originals while still being groundbreaking in its own right. I haven't seen as funny of a horror series since Ash Versus the Evil Dead. The puppeteering for the Critters monsters was as sloppy as always, which makes it even more fun. Not high on scares, but one of the greatest comedy horror series, nonetheless. It's almost as good as the original Gremlins, but a little hokier.

This show is horrible, the acting, the dialogue, the effects. But I think that's the point. The only reason I watched this start to finish is because the episodes are 10 minutes long, no commitment needed and I can cross something off my watch list. A decent waste of time.

I love the Critters films. Fun, cheesey, scifi film at their finest...with the exception of Critters 4 which I hated. I felt the Critters deserved a better final installment and I had hoped this would be it. Unfortunatly......

Critters: A New Binge suffers from the same problems as Critters 4. With even the lead charecters being extreamly unlikable and everyone else being very annoying. As well as a "twist" that can be predicted after 3 of the 8 ten minute episodes. The writing was incredibly flat and uneventful except for the last 3 episodes. Which still felt under developed due to the 10 minute episode runtime.

And while the critters themselves are still as lovably silly and evil as ever and Im glad they stayed with puppets and practical effects for the critters the digital elements elsewhere look awful in comparison. I know that was likley a matter of the show's low budget. But even so.

Overall. If the show had better writing behind it and not bet its success souly on the critters name. If they had been able to produce full 20-30 minute episodes to let story elements develop properly. This could have been a great installment in the franchise. And a far better finale then the terrible Critters 4. But as it stands. Its just as bad. If not worse.

I prey that the Critters get a proper revival someday. But this isnt it.

One reason why Critters is a fairly forgotten saga is because as they released a new installment, the shine that the original film had began to fade little by little. With the announcement of a new installment by Warner Bros. And with the short film Critters: Bounty Hunter that was released in 2014, it was hoped that this could be corrected and that the saga would shine again in the best possible way. Thus came this miniseries that ended up generating a quite divisive effect. A New Binge started as a feature film at the beginning, but they decided to divide it into 8 short episodes and the truth is that it was not a good idea. Tying all the episodes together does not improve the situation. Here they decided to restart the saga with a different story and new characters. They kept some gore and ditched the horror to focus more on comedy. Although humor has become an essential part for the creatures of this saga, everything here is absurd humor. Instead of feeling like a good reboot, this miniseries is more of a Scary Movie-style parody of the saga. Although they respected the design of the creatures, it must be admitted that in this series the Critters look more fake than their original versions. The special effects are quite crappy and it shows that everything was done with a much lower budget than the last installments. Both the practical effects and the CGI look fake enough to think that this series was made more by young people making videos for YouTube and not by a professional studio. Although Critters 3 and Critters 4 are somewhat questionable, they had good creativity at some point. This series has no creativity, no wit. The story is mostly poorly executed without filling in some script holes and the story is quite absurd. The script is terrible with a terrible structure. Even when everything is discovered about the missing Critter that the others come to rescue, it is easy to notice that the plot is too ridiculous to be taken seriously. The only favorable thing about this series is that due to its ridiculousness, it is quite fun to watch. It is a series that manages to generate laughter, but because of how bad it is. It may be pleasant and fun for those who enjoy all the installments of the saga, but it will not be like that for someone in the average audience. It is not strange that this series has been quickly forgotten and has not managed to have a second season. Critters: A New Binge is undoubtedly the worst installment of the Critters franchise and a parody that failed to save it from oblivion. My final rating for this miniseries is a 5/10.