Critters 2 Has A Surprising Message That Completely Changes The Movie

The classic 80s creature feature, Critters 2: The Main Course, has a surprising hidden message that completely changes the film's entire meaning.

The nostalgic creature feature, Critters 2, has a surprising hidden message that changes the film's meaning. Critters is a science fiction horror-comedy franchise comprising five movies and a television series. The Critters films center around the mischievous and carnivorous extraterrestrials, known as Krites, as they wreak havoc on Earth (and in space). The little furry hedgehog-like creatures, with several rows of sharp teeth and the ability to shoot spikes, were developed by The Chiodo brothers.

In the original film, the alien creatures hijack a prison transport spacecraft as they are transported from an asteroid prison to another location. The Critters crash on Earth and create chaos in a small town. The film centers around Brad (Scott Grimes), his family, and the bounty hunters sent to Earth to retrieve the Krites. In the second installment, Critters 2: The Main Course (1988), Brad returns home to find a new batch of bloodthirsty aliens. Left over from the first film, Critter 2 sees alien eggs hatching just before Easter, and the Krites begin another deadly rampage. However, it has a surprisingly serious message underneath.

There is a Hidden Vegan Message In Critters 2

On the surface, Critters 2 seems to be just another creature feature, but it contains a more profound vegan message. Most of the vegan messages are found in the dialogue between Brad and his grandmother. In the first scene with "Nana," she explains to Brad that eating red meat is the worst thing he can do to his body. She describes a fascinating fact that most people are likely unaware of: "You know, the carnivores have short intestines, and the meat passes right out through, but we're herbivores. We've got great long intestines, and the meat just rots in there." This theme continues throughout the entire film.

The villains in Critters 2 are carnivores, and their obsession with meat is the plot's primary focus. In one scene, the Krites are ransacking Nana's refrigerator, disgusted by all the vegetables, as she shouts, "Damn meat eaters!" The term "meat eaters" carries a negative connotation throughout the film. The vegan message is further displayed in the town's attempt to destroy the Krites by luring them to a hamburger factory to trap them; their bloodthirsty gluttony is symbolic of the stereotypical American diet. The vegan message is effectively conveyed through Nana's factual anecdotes and ongoing symbolism in the plot.

Critters 2 Isn’t The Only Horror Film With Messages About Animal Cruelty

Before Critters 2, there was the classic 1974 horror movie masterpiece, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which was filled with vegan symbolism. The victims in the movie are hung on meat hooks, hit with sledgehammers, stuffed in freezers, and skinned; viewed as nothing more than objects used as food and mocked for the fear they experience. In the decades following Critters 2, there have been multiple examples of vegan messages in horror. Daybreakers (2009) tells the story of a futuristic world where vampires plan to farm humans for their blood while a vampire hematologist works to create a blood substitute.

Another film with a strong vegan message, released 30 years after Critters 2, is The Farm (2018), which follows a couple kidnapped and kept among other humans raised as livestock. The humans in the film are subjected to all the horrifying acts normally committed against animals in the meat and dairy industries. The females are artificially inseminated, and their babies are then killed at birth so their mother's milk can be stolen; people are kept in tiny cages, hogtied, and shocked with cattle prods before being killed and gutted for their meat.

The horror genre is a potent tool for conveying the vegan message. Nothing is as terrifying as a slaughterhouse, and horror films are the perfect outlet for conveying fear. Through their work, filmmakers can place humans in the position of animals, creating subtle parallels like those seen in Critters 2 or more overt depictions of gore and torture. Although art is subjective, hidden meaning can be found in unexpected places.