Lunacy
Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: August 9, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
One of the best films of the year. Read full review
88
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis de Sade (interesting combination, no?). Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Svankmajer has crafted his finest live-action feature to date. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Svankmajer's nihilistic story isn't for everyone, but he skillfully manages its disturbing execution in ways no one else could, and he brings it across in a darkly comedic way that encourages simultaneous laughter, horror, and thought. If that isn't art, what is? Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
The film is imaginative but ugly, with bodily functions an unending source for grotesque and revolting imagery. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
It's a fully formed film which transcends polemic by an intelligent use of the imagination. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Its view of mankind is unkind, to say the least, but any race that can produce such remarkably garish gore as this is perhaps salvageable somehow, someday. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
At nearly two hours Lunacy becomes repetitive, at first ingeniously and then with a slowly dulling edge. The meat parade ceases to shock. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
While Lunacy leaves you with the impression that Svankmajer is more expressive with cutlets than he is with his atypically human-dominated dreamscape, some of the images are doozies. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesMark Olsen
For all its visual surprises and visceral shocks, Lunacy is still the kind of film that is easier to admire than it is to actually like. Read full review
50
VarietyJay Weissberg
More moving animal parts and less human pontificating would make a stronger case for a tale already rich in imagery. Another drawback is Liska, too one-dimensional to stand against Triska's overpowering performance. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Mr. Svankmajer’s provocations skew toward the intellectual and the shivery rather than the pop and the visceral, and at his best, he doesn’t just get under your skin, but also deep in your head, too. Here, unfortunately, he does neither, despite some marvelous stop-motion animated sequences involving a literal moveable feast of severed animal tongues, loose eyeballs and errant brains. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Lunacy is dark, scary, and yucky--even by the Czech animator's own standards. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Lunacy feels programmatic, the repetitive working through of an idea that had me checking my watch. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
While dinner and a movie is in theory a great idea, I'd avoid eating before taking in Lunacy. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Weird anachronisms (cars, telephones, home computers) contribute to the craziness, but despite the copious imagination on display, this is a fairly long haul. Read full review
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