The Covenant
Screen Gems | Release Date: September 8, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
19
METASCORE
Overwhelming dislike based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
1
Negative:
14
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Philadelphia InquirerDavid Hiltbrand
Harlin, with his customary visual brio, has created a film that is deliriously watchable. It's just not all that interesting. In the end, The Covenant is simply a glossier version of TV's "Charmed." Read full review
40
EmpireHelen O'Hara
Utterly stupid and full of lazy plotting and lazier dialogue, this is just idiotic enough to entertain on nights when you want to give your brain a rest. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Profoundly mediocre supernatural thriller. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle Smith
When the villain is revealed, you are neither surprised nor scared. You just think, "That guy?" Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The Covenant is dopey, formulaic stuff for the Friday night fright crowd. Worse for them, it's never remotely scary. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubAmelie Gillette
Okay, so it isn't challenging. There are worse things for a horror-thriller about supernatural high-schoolers to not be. Like not scary. Or not thrilling. Or not as entertaining as an episode of "Charmed." Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
For the most part, the proceedings are slow, solemn and tedious. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyLuke Y. Thompson
The idiocy and sheer laziness of the whole concept ought to be the sort of thing director Renny Harlin (Deep Blue Sea) could make into glorious cinematic cheese, and occasionally he cuts loose with a swarm of CGI spiders or a final battle that resembles nothing more than a live action game of "Street Fighter II." But he's hamstrung by the PG-13 rating and the budget. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesMichael Ordona
As boredom sets in, the viewer realizes that "The Covenant" does possess one magical power: It afflicts its audience with restless leg syndrome. Read full review
25
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It fails utterly as a horror picture, although it delivers plenty of PG-13-rated flesh and unintentional laughs. Read full review
20
VarietyJustin Chang
Muddled and most unmagical offering. Read full review
16
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirshling
Cobbled-together teenybopper tripe. Read full review
11
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
Surely nothing Hollywood did in its darkest, most debauched hour could possibly justify the penance we're paying that allows Harlin to continue directing movies. Read full review
10
The New York TimesNathan Lee
That's the one with a car that explodes and gets put back together by magic, right? Yeah, that’s pretty much the coolest part. Read full review
10
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Director Renny Harlin, whose colon-studded credits include "Die Hard 2: Die Harder" and "Exorcist: The Beginning," knows the deal here: Pay homoerotic homage to youth and beauty, crank up the heavy metal on the soundtrack, and spare no effort to backlight the omnipresent rain. Read full review
10
Chicago ReaderReece Pendleton
Crushingly dull teen horror flick. Read full review
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