Cooties
Lionsgate | Release Date: September 18, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
16
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
IndieWireKyle BurtonMay 22, 2015
Both effectively terrifying and hilarious. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMay 22, 2015
Star-stuffed, well paced and very funny. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinSep 17, 2015
Before Cooties is a zombie movie, it is an earnest-young-teacher movie that diligently subscribes to every cliché of the form. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzSep 18, 2015
While directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion want to have their laughs and horror, too, the film is something of a zombie itself: half-alive and bloody, but lacking any heart. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeMay 22, 2015
Amusing as the Cooties script manages to be, one gets the distinct impression that its authors didn’t bother to visit a school at any point in the research or writing process, missing out on any number of jokes they could have made at public education’s expense. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoSep 17, 2015
Wilson has some fun lampooning ’80s action tropes, but he’s also just doing Dwight Schrute with a twang at times. McBrayer and Garcia barely get to play one-note characters, let alone ones that you’ll remember. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelSep 17, 2015
What could have been an amusing and entertaining zombie flick is, instead, a slog. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSep 17, 2015
With Cooties, what starts as recess fades all too rapidly into movie detention. Read full review
50
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerSep 17, 2015
Though Cooties has a reasonable amount of laughs and frights, and though real teachers may find it an apt allegory for the zombielike charges in their classrooms, it’s not really funny enough to achieve grown-up cachet, and it’s too ugly and violent for younger viewers. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 17, 2015
It’s Rainn Wilson who steals the show as the cocky physical education teacher who takes charge when the pint-size monsters corner him and his fellow educators. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisSep 17, 2015
This is a movie in search of a finale. Read full review
50
Village VoiceSimon AbramsSep 15, 2015
Infectious horror-comedy Cooties is an energizing juggernaut until its seemingly inexhaustible ensemble cast members are outpaced by their respective characters' quirks. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChuck BowenSep 15, 2015
It makes an occasionally spirited pretense of injecting the tensions of the United States's educational system into a familiar zombie-siege scenario. Read full review
50
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthJul 20, 2015
The engaging opening third of Cooties is enough to make the rest of the 96-minute film a mildly amusing diversion, but as the minutes roll by, you'll wish the brains of the film had remained intact. Read full review
50
Film.comEric D. SniderMay 22, 2015
Cooties, while suitably gross and buoyed by game performances, doesn’t exploit its concept nearly as well as it should. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatySep 23, 2015
Neither scary enough to be a horror film nor funny enough to be a comedy. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottOct 2, 2015
Its smattering of enjoyable moments aside, this is one of those horror films that will beg to be remade -- just smarter -- once this initial outing fades into the memories of moviegoers. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghSep 17, 2015
Without a buttress of cleverness, Cooties is mere freewheeling idiocy. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovSep 16, 2015
It’s fun, but it’s no "Class of Nuke ’Em High." Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsKatherine PushkarSep 16, 2015
Despite the funny premise, Cooties doesn’t live up to its potential. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comNick AllenSep 18, 2015
Cooties is a midnight movie for those fine with dozing off about twenty minutes in, once the charm of its single sentence log-line has worn off. Read full review
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