Dream House
Universal Pictures | Release Date: September 30, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
9
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
MovielineStephanie ZacharekSep 30, 2011
It's painful to watch a movie like Dream House - well-acted, beautifully shot and directed with extraordinary care and attention to craft - only to realize that the story, the alleged backbone, is absurd. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineRob HumanickSep 30, 2011
A modest genre entry, Dream House also benefits from the fact that any movie with good enough sense to cast Elias Koteas is automatically better as a result, even if he is utterly wasted here. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 1, 2011
70 minutes into the 90-minute process, I was engaged. Then it all collapsed. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonOct 1, 2011
The film's ambitions are woefully small and familiar. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanOct 1, 2011
This suburban gothic is a logy, convoluted mess. Read full review
40
TimeRichard CorlissOct 3, 2011
The director is going through the motions, and he doesn't display the cinematic skill, at least in the release version, to bring off an exercise in either Hitchcockian or Shyamalanian suspense. Read full review
40
VarietyRobert KoehlerOct 2, 2011
Impressive as the combination may seem on paper, having Sheridan direct this sort of genre fare reps a clear miscasting of helmer and subject, as he displays no particular feel for the material and is unable to overcome the story's generic approach, lack of striking psychological ideas, and literal-minded denouement. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSep 30, 2011
This crackpot thriller from the usually competent Jim Sheridan leaves only one mystery unsolved: what on earth was he thinking? Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenSep 30, 2011
With its telegraphed twists and clunky pacing, the film would be unbearable were it not for the fine trio of Craig, Weisz and Naomi Watts, all more or less slumming. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 30, 2011
Despite the A-list talent involved, this haunted house tale is a thrill-deprived, inert misfire. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierSep 30, 2011
Dream House is the full magilla, with imaginary images, sanity questions, peek-a-boo startles and the usual are-they-real-or-not? characters. Read full review
38
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreSep 30, 2011
So much is just so…obvious. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderAndrea GronvallOct 1, 2011
The story unfolds briskly in the polished mode of a classic horror movie, then tanks after a plot twist at the midpoint alters the mood and slows the pace. Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father) directed an ill-conceived screenplay that could have worked only as camp. Read full review
30
Village VoiceNick SchagerSep 30, 2011
Dream House also manages to commit a cardinal thriller sin: casting well-known actors in ostensibly inconsequential roles, which in this case reveals the real culprit before the mystery proper has even begun. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovOct 5, 2011
Dream House is neither haunting (as the marketing appears to promise) nor all that original. But it does, thank goodness for small favors, have Elias Koteas. Read full review
10
Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoOct 1, 2011
The real problem is, when the film blindsides us with a mystery we didn't know existed, we're already too busy not caring about mystery we knew was there. Read full review
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