55
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago TribuneDave KehrChicago TribuneDave KehrThere is no visible conviction in Penn's staging, but he does have a good time prowling through the cluttered decor (which comes complete with menacing stuffed animals and secret passageways), while coaxing some gaudily entertaining, highly theatrical ham-work from Rubes and McDowell. [06 Feb 1987, p.N]
- 75Miami HeraldBill CosfordMiami HeraldBill CosfordPenn makes all this fun. He doesn't camp, though he's not above borrowings and homages, and you can count the Hitchcocks. Penn's approach is almost elegant, even though this is little more than a bauble. We're not supposed actually to believe any of it, but merely to come along for the ride. [11 Feb 1987, p.D7]
- 70The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinThe screenplay is inelegant but lively, and the direction gives the material a wicked edge.
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertIt's easy to pick holes in movies like this, to find the inconsistencies and the oversights and say the movie's no good because we're smarter than it is. But maybe that's exactly the point. Maybe the actual pleasure comes from the fun of being frustrated and full of free advice while the character marches to her doom.
- 63Washington PostPaul AttanasioWashington PostPaul AttanasioAn hour's worth of exposition is a long wait, and if the payoff isn't quite worth it, it is fun. After nine yards of soggy oatmeal, you're reintroduced to the pleasures of an old-fashioned haunted house.
- 63The Globe and Mail (Toronto)The Globe and Mail (Toronto)True, this film is a suspense exercise with a frightened woman trapped in a house where she stands to lose her life. Some people would not call this kind of thing entertainment, and no one can blame them. Some people would find this story entertaining no matter how shabbily it was produced. [07 Feb 1987]
- 50Time OutTime OutWhile beautifully shot, admirably old-fashioned (sexual violence and explicit gore are absent), and endowed with pleasing plot twists, the film is too formulaic and offers little opportunity for Penn to display his prodigious talents.
- 50Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasThere’s an elegant sheen and sophisticated tone to Dead of Winter, but since it’s neither witty nor ingenious enough to be either genuinely amusing or suspenseful, it seems a bit morbid by default.
- 50NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenDead of Winter is played straight and not without style, but the material (by Marc Shmuger and Mark Malone) is such implausible, antique claptrap it's hard not to think of it as camp. [23 Feb 1987, p.79]