Bob Graham

Best movie of the summer.

Audiences will talk about how satisfying this movie is.

The look of the film is first class, with muted colors but deep textures, the opposite of historical kitsch.

It's astonishing that so much money, talent, technical expertise and visual imagination can be put in the service of something so stupid.

If it doesn't always come off, enough headlong energy develops to carry it through.

Gutter romance meets metaphysical thriller.

This movie knows how to entertain.

What is bloody and full of holes?

There are barrages of fast cuts to distract us from the fact that the director is showing us no real action.

Nobody would claim it adds up to much of a comedy. It's strictly for someone looking for a goof-off.

People who see it may feel like dancing out of the theater afterward. Go for it.

Anyone expecting a flashy Bond-style fantasy is going to be disappointed.

It's the kind of unpretentious movie that falls between the cracks, and for a certain kind of audience, the thoughtful kind, it would be a shame to miss.

The audience, too, will be sorry to see this fleeting, beautifully made French film end.

An overwhelming experience.

Voyeuristically wallows in the sadistic violence it professes to deplore. What hypocrisy!

Not a routine cut-and-paste horror but a full-fledged revenge fantasy -- and a completely satisfying one.

Dumb.

It overcomes some patchiness to turn into a rich emotional experience, ranging in degree from fire to ice.

This is a solid suspense thriller that's fun. These stars have put it together in a spirit of playfulness -- as in playacting.

Some will say this film is overly ambitious, but what the hell. The man put five years of his life into making this epic mystery. We can surely give it two hours of ours.

This good-natured comedy is set off by the high spirits of its stars.

The lead actors on both sides of the vampire divide are all strong personalities.

It is a warm, closely observed satire of lived life, and it is a charmer.

Handsomely weathered John Hurt, as Pelagia's father, gives a performance of such unhackneyed dignity that it provides a moral compass for the action and helps to keep the ricocheting emotional content of the film in balance.

Channels the spirit of Frank Capra in this serio-sentimental fable about a man who loses his memory but finds his soul.

Frequently hilarious.

A big-hearted celebration of the we're-all-in-this- together American way.