I am the first to admit that Critters 2 is not as good as the first one, but it is still a reasonably fun movie in it's own right, as well as, if memory serves, it's the only Easter set horror movie, at least that I know of (and I cringe knowing that some of my friends will respond with a list of schlocky horror movies about demonic Easter Bunnies or Serial Killers wearing a bunny mask, etc.).
Brad Brown (played by Scott Grimes) is returning to his home town of Grover's Bend to spend some time with his Grandma for Easter (apparently the rest of the family doesn't particularly care about Grandma). After the events of the first film and the notoriety that followed, the Browns left Grover's Bend and moved to Kansas City. His return is noted by several of the town members as he is a bit of a local celebrity. He tries to dodge the attention, especially since not all the town members believed his stories of vicious alien monsters. Meanwhile, a large pile of Critter eggs have been found in the old Brown family barn and are sold off to be used as Easter eggs. It's not long before the Critters hatch and start attacking the town folk again. Brad teams up with the plucky daughter of the local newspaper editor, Megan (played by Liane Curtis), and disgraced former mayor Harv (played by Barry Corbin) to stop the Critters once and for all. Also returning to the scene are the two intergalactic bounty hunters as well as Charlie (played by Don Keith Opper), who left with them at the end of the first film, after receiving notice that there were still Critter lifeforms on Earth.
Mick Garris, who would go on to make several films with Stephen King, took the directorial reins on this one and did a nice job at opening things up a bit. The scope of this film is a bit bigger as the action takes place throughout the town rather than isolated to one farmhouse. He also co-wrote the script with David Twohy and this outing adds more humor to the film than the first film, which more or less played things straight. At the same time, the Critter action is upped as well as the body count as several town members fall to the ferocious little furballs. The film once again moves at a brisk pace, getting the action moving fairly quickly. The acting is decent with Scott Grimes and Liane Curtis taking the lead roles in the film and doing a decent job. Barry Corbin takes over the role of former town sheriff from M Emmett Walsh in the first film and actually does a better job than the previous actor. Corbin understands what kind of movie he is in and finds the right notes to play, quietly stealing every scene he's in.
Overall, Critters 2 doesn't match the first film, but it finds enough new ideas to make it a reasonably entertaining follow-up. Much like Gremlins 2, this follow-up much more focuses on the humor (although Gremlins 2 was far more clever in it's humor), but retains enough monster mayhem that includes a giant ball of Critters chasing the townfolk to be thrilling as well. It's a decent follow-up and certainly better than the two direct to video sequels that followed (that I will not be reviewing, just so you know). So, there is that at least.
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