Phantoms
Dimension Films | Release Date: January 23, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
26
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
7
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
For about 20 minutes, Phantoms, based on Dean Koontz's bestseller, keeps you guessing. After that, it barely keeps you awake. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Sometimes in horror movies, bad acting is effective, its very woodenness contributing to the sense of robotic horror. That ain't happening here. These guys are just bad actors. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Director Chappelle lays on the spook factor heavy in the first 30 minutes or so, but the film quickly devolves into a simplistic slash 'n' bash shoot-'em-up which goes nowhere fast. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A movie, based on the popular Dean Koontz novel, that seems to have been made by grinding up other films and feeding them to this one. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
A horror movie that has the distinction of not even being scary... Although Koontz wrote the screenplay, the suspense for which he is supposed to be famous doesn't translate to the screen. Read full review
16
Entertainment WeeklyTy Burr
It's nearly unwatchable, a farrago of confusing direction, stupid plot coincidences, and banal dialogue. Read full review
12
San Francisco ExaminerWalter Addiego
Godawful. Read full review
12
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Phantoms may have sold like hotcakes as a book. But this movie version is a grotesque fiasco, a confoundingly senseless story told with unexciting visuals, cliched dialogue and ear-bashing sounds... Watching it is a truly hellish experience. [23 Jan 1998]
10
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
Since neither (Chapelle nor Koontz) seems to have any idea as to how to make an actual movie, they abandon form and reason and throw every stock trick in the book at the screen to see what sticks. And what sticks is the murky goo of storytelling gone bad. Read full review
10
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The movie's computer animation is so cut-rate and its direction (by Joe Chappelle) so slack that the attacks are virtually terror-free. Read full review
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