Metascore
50

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 15
  2. Negative: 3 out of 15

Critic Reviews

  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Howard Rosenberg
    Mar 16, 2022
    70
    You'd find answers here, but the premiere ends as inky as it begins, its ambiguity making it all the more appealing as Kanin gradually strips back layers of intrigue in a dark locale where nights outnumber days about 10 to 1, and the forest is a place to avoid unless you're carrying a bazooka. [12 Sep 2001, p.8]
  2. Reviewed by: Michael Speier
    Mar 16, 2022
    65
    A sinister series that melds X-Files creepiness with B-movie chills, CBS' Wolf Lake gets it right when it focuses on the beasts, but the humans could use a little work.
  3. San Diego Union-Tribune
    Reviewed by: Robert P. Laurence
    Mar 16, 2022
    63
    Shot in an impressively glossy style, and in wide-screen, Wolf Lake at least looks good, in spite of a lack of the visual effects one might expect in a series like this one. [09 Sep 2001]
  4. Reviewed by: Ron Wertheimer
    Mar 16, 2022
    60
    If the creative team can maintain an element of surprise and trust the viewer to get the premise already, and if Mr. Phillips can relax and seem to have a bit of fun, Wolf Lake could grow on people.
  5. Boston Herald
    Reviewed by: Brandon M. Easton
    Mar 16, 2022
    50
    Wolf Lake attempts to revel within the originality of its otherworldly concept but never does anything remotely original or otherworldly. [12 Sep 2001]
  6. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    Mar 16, 2022
    50
    The new Wolf Lake... is obvious and lumbers to a start rather than moving in Twin Peaks-like mysterious ways. [12 Sep 2001]
  7. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Reviewed by: Gail Pennington
    Mar 16, 2022
    50
    Wolf Lake shows signs of turning into the kind of pretentiously mystical drama that attracts breathless Internet fan groups but leaves less-susceptible viewers snickering. Depending on what turn it takes, Wolf Lake could be fascinating or foolish. [11 Sep 2001, p.F1]
  8. Reviewed by: Steve Johnson
    Mar 16, 2022
    50
    Phillips struts through this show with not so much passion and longing for a lost love but preening, the sense that he is gracing the town, television and the planet itself by his very presence.
  9. Reviewed by: Ann Hodges
    Mar 16, 2022
    50
    Wolf Lake, CBS' brooding series about humans in wolves' clothing (or maybe that should be vice versa) premieres after a total makeover that leaves it more of a furry X-Files meets Twin Peaks than a confusing call of the wild.
  10. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    Mar 16, 2022
    42
    Wolf Lake hopes to become a cult hit by slowly feeding us clues about the ways of its wolves. But you may find yourself eagerly awaiting the clue about where one can find a couple of silver bullets. [12 Sep 2001]
  11. Kansas City Star
    Reviewed by: Aaron Barnhart
    Mar 16, 2022
    40
    This movie-of-the-week script would be a sorry foundation for a TV series even if it weren't so tone-deaf, failing to convey either the terror of a wolf attack or the quirkiness of small-town life. [10 Sep 2001]
  12. Reviewed by: Hal Boedeker
    Mar 16, 2022
    40
    The series seems to be aiming for Twin Peaks-style strangeness, but the show's odd strands dangle rather than come together in gripping fashion.
  13. Reviewed by: Tom Shales
    Mar 16, 2022
    30
    A pointless and preposterous new CBS series about a mysterious village north of Seattle where people wolf down their food and, it appears, are sometimes wolfed down themselves.
  14. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Terry Jackson
    Mar 16, 2022
    25
    It's a confusing mess that defies even the most vivid imagination. [16 Sep 2001, p.21TV]
  15. Reviewed by: John Levesque
    Mar 16, 2022
    16
    The new Wolf Lake -- we're not talking a retooled pilot here, we're talking a complete makeover -- is the real deal: a five-star train wreck, a line of toxic-waste tank cars jumping the tracks and fouling lakes, rivers and swimming pools for miles around. In a word: stinkaroonie.