Matt Donato

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Collider, IGN, Paste Magazine, Slashfilm, The A.V. Club, TheWrap, We Got This Covered
For 599 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 57% higher than the average critic
  • 7% same as the average critic
  • 36% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 4.2 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Matt Donato's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 61
Highest review score: 100 Guardians of the Galaxy
Lowest review score: 15 Dashcam
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 284 out of 599
  2. Mixed: 280 out of 599
  3. Negative: 35 out of 599
599 movie reviews
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    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    Babylon
    It's a heartbreaking tragedy, dreamer's comedy, and saucy stumble through double-edged "success" stories, but most of all? It's a bloated, brass-band-swingin' mess.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Dash
    Dash will leave viewers behind based on the virtue of its obscure construction, yet should excite those seeking alternative character studies based on gig culture, second lives, and the unfaithful depths humans will plummet before telling a simple truth.
    • 29 Metascore
    • 40 Matt Donato
    The Mean One
    No lies; there are a handful of moments that strike a smile. That said, enjoyment is fleeting like the glee of biting into candy only to find, seconds later, that it's black licorice flavor.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    The Leech
    The Leech is a seedy, nefarious and scrappy morality tale that excels on the backs of its big-swinging performers.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    A Wounded Fawn
    A Wounded Fawn is an artfully chaotic descent into bloodlust, monstrous misogyny, and euphoric comeuppances of the most punishing pleasures.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Violent Night
    Violent Night might take a hot minute to find its footing and keeps plucking low-hanging wordplay sugar plums, but at full strength, nobody's stopping Santa from making this year the reddest Christmas imaginable.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Blood Relatives
    Blood Relatives is a warts-and-all brand of vampire indie that gets by with a bit of help from tremendous actor chemistry.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Nanny
    Nanny seeps into your pores, stings like salt in a throbbing wound and doesn’t require what some horror fans might—conversely—wish appeared.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Matt Donato
    Mandrake
    A more pungent concoction of community terror and conjured trauma would be able to hold stronger, not disappointingly drift away like a lullaby into the wind.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Matt Donato
    Huesera: The Bone Woman
    The horrors of childbirth become entangled in a demonic subplot as Huesera fits neatly into the list of chilling pregnancy horror tales, but doesn’t add much new to it.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 75 Matt Donato
    Run Sweetheart Run
    Run Sweetheart Run is a passionate Los Angeles marathon that severs heads, scolds abusive norms, and gets loud about the ways society needs to reflect upon bettering itself. Shana Feste finds action-packed elegance in rage and reflection, borrowing from fast-moving midnight flicks that aren't afraid to challenge oppressive stigmas.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Matt Donato
    Satan's Slaves: Communion
    Satan's Slaves: Communion delivers another artfully accomplished and wickedly malevolent slice of Indonesian horror that returns to formula basics without sacrificing Anwar's trademarks. Maybe a bit too ambitious with its storytelling. But still righteously right-on in terms of razor-toothed horror execution.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 65 Matt Donato
    Old Man
    McKee’s darker genre touches in titles like The Woman and All Cheerleaders Die are sorely missed in Old Man, which is too reliant on performances that outshine a story seen coming like an asteroid the size of Mars.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Matt Donato
    Sick
    Sick is exceptionally paced and provides slasher thrills with breakneck intensity, but loses traction during a wobbly landing that needlessly overcomplicates an otherwise cutthroat thrill ride.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 55 Matt Donato
    Grimcutty
    Too much of a good thing becomes John Ross’ curse, as Grimcutty renders his demonic scowl impotent after the umpteenth close-up. Stick your landing, not your opening—Grimcutty works itself backward into a forgettable cyber-folktale fate.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Sissy
    Sadly, some only listen when the quiet part is said out loud — Sissy blares its concerns and horrors like neon demons in front of the brightest ring lights.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    Dark Glasses
    Dark Glasses is forgettable. It’s also an upgrade for contemporary Dario Argento.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 90 Matt Donato
    Project Wolf Hunting
    Project Wolf Hunting goes for broke in terms of exquisite beatdown violence in the pursuit of primal genre happiness. Writer/director Kim Hong-seon executes like there’s a going-out-of-business sale on fake blood, and we reap the benefits as showstopping displays of action-horror devastation take center stage.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 80 Matt Donato
    Hellraiser
    Hellraiser is a reinvigorated reboot that gets the blood pumping, starting with Jamie Clayton’s worthy Pinhead performance that sets a fresh tone with immense reverence paid to Clive Barker's works.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Matt Donato
    My Best Friend's Exorcism
    My Best Friend’s Exorcism is gateway horror that puts storytelling above terror. It’s steady on its 1980s teenage-girl friendship drama, but other elements around the messaging stumble.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon
    Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon sizzles like a heated cajun fairytale that tells humanity how it is, brimming with Amirpour's distinctly creative voice that keeps me coming back for more.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Terrifier 2
    Terrifier 2 rips, tears, hacks, shreds, butchers, disembowels, decapitates, devours, pulverizes, tenderizes, slices, dices, skewers — I'm missing plenty — and knock-em-out-dead eviscerates the current competition when it comes to low-budget slasher effects.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Spirit Halloween: The Movie
    Spirit Halloween dodges the bargain bin by opening its doors to a proficient gateway horror tale that plays like Goosebumps Lite in a seasonal decoration store.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Matt Donato
    The Munsters
    The Munsters is a wholesome labor of love that’s probably for the most diehard sitcom fans because for better and worse, Rob Zombie makes the Munsters reboot he wants to see.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Matt Donato
    Raven's Hollow
    Raven’s Hollow is drenched in 1800s allure as cursed mythology overtakes eastern American realism. Still, you’ve likely imagined far gnarlier nightmares based on Poe’s works than what’s delivered by these lackluster visual effects. To quoth Donato? Quite a bore.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    V/H/S/99
    V/H/S/99 understands the ‘90s assignment and crafts low-budget chaos that delivers a unified anthology slathered in guts, heavy on nostalgia, and with a punk-as-hell attitude.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Matt Donato
    Sweetheart
    J.D. Dillard's Sweetheart is fierce aquatic horror without any frills.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 50 Matt Donato
    Goodnight Mommy
    Goodnight Mommy might be passable as a standalone, but it’s impossible to recommend over the original. Matt Sobel and ​​Kyle Warren venture somewhere new that still doesn’t differentiate nearly enough for its quieter approach.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Matt Donato
    Speak No Evil
    Speak No Evil is a worthwhile test of wills that’s sure to dampen anyone’s day with a superbly excruciating tale of monsters in civilian clothing.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Matt Donato
    Pearl
    While West’s sleazy ‘70s slasher remains one of my champion horror titles of 2022, Pearl is more like giddily deranged add-on downloadable content that makes for an unexpected bite-sized treat. Kudos to the accomplishment, and it’s an ax-swinging slice of bad-vibes hoedown kookiness, but there’s a particular substance missing that X oozes.
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