House of Saddam
HBO | BBC-2 | BBC Two | Release Date: July 30, 2008
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: The perspective one gets from inside the House of Saddam is different than media reports from the outside and is, in itself, an important reason to tune in. Read full review
80
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: A chilling and riveting essay on the evils that men do and continue doing, year after year, century after century, millennium after millennium. Read full review
80
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: Made jointly by the BBC and HBO, House of Saddam is well told and often lurid, a saga that blends the dirty work of despotism with the rituals of family gatherings, sibling rivalries and marital discontents. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: House of Saddam offers a fascinating but limited portrait of the Iraqi tyrant. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: There are well-written and well-mounted scenes and some good performances. It is not without suspense. But even at four hours, House of Saddam feels incomplete and scattered--a lessened, not a heightened reality. Read full review
67
TimeJames Poniewozik
Season 1 Review: It's a refreshing take and an interesting effort, if finally not quite a compelling one. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyClark Collis
Season 1 Review: House plays like an edition of PBS' Frontline with actors. Read full review
60
SlateTroy Patterson
Season 1 Review: The production's appeal is all on the surfaces--in a moment where a killer's image is reflected in a fresh pool of blood, say, or a megalomaniac catches his own eye in the mirror. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: The style of the telling--heavy and, ultimately, hollow--perfectly matches the substance of the story. But of course that lugubrious style makes House of Saddam a slog, even while it is precisely paced and seamlessly directed. Read full review
50
SalonHeather Havrilesky
Season 1 Review: Witnessing every ugly twist in Hussein's long and arduous path to self-destruction is more grueling than you'd expect, in part because this script doesn't paint Hussein in very many shades other than the pitch black of pure evil. Read full review
50
PopMattersCynthia Fuchs
Season 1 Review: For its part, House of Saddam provides little insight into Saddam Hussein. Instead, it repeats truisms about well-reported events, many of them best remembered as TV images. Read full review
40
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: Beyond snapshots of his quarter-century of tyranny, though, there's precious little that penetrates the surface, despite vague references to his stepfather slapping him around. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalStaff (Not Credited)
Season 1 Review: As disrespectful to his victims as it may be to view The House of Saddam as entertainment, that is the only level where it succeeds. Read full review
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