| 80 |
Dallas Observer
This brutal film borders on the brilliant. Beautifully structured and edited, with a chilling central performance by Ian McKellen and an exceptional score by John Ottman, who also edited the picture, it churns up emotions and leaves the viewer feeling stunned and depleted.
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| 80 |
Empire
Not all the plot developments ring true, but moments carry a real chill - even in a coma, McKellen can terrify a fellow patient almost to death - and it has more than enough thought-provoking material to command your interest.
|
| 75 |
Entertainment Weekly
It's scariest as a parable about the evil that exists in the hearts of adolescent boys.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Brought off with such skill and commitment that there isn't any time to snicker at its obviousness.
|
| 70 |
The New York Times
Both actors play their roles so trickily that tensions escalate until the horror grows unimaginatively gothic.
|
| 70 |
Chicago Reader
Largely free of generic horror-movie elements, such as exploitative torture and murder scenes. Those it does contain draw attention to the difference between the conventions of psychological drama and those of pulp horror.
|
| 67 |
Austin Chronicle
It's not perfect King, but it is jarringly close, which these days remains pretty much all one could hope for.
|
| 60 |
Los Angeles Times
Jack Mathews
Despite the riveting performances of Renfro and McKellen, we're left with classic horror-movie sociopaths, evil-doers without conscience, or much to say about the nature of evil.
|
| 60 |
TV Guide
Do director Bryan Singer and screenwriter Brandon Boyce really mean to suggest that the roots of genocide lie in homosexual desire?
|
| 60 |
Variety
A creepy, well-acted story of contagious evil, Apt Pupil has more than enough chilling dramatic scenes to rivet the attention but suffers from some hokey contrivances and underlying insufficiencies of motivation.
|
| 50 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
No matter how you judge it -- as a strict morality play or simply a psychological thriller -- Apt Pupil just doesn't make the grade.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Sun-Times
When bodies are buried in cellars and cats are thrown into lighted ovens, the film reveals itself as unworthy of its subject matter.
|
| 50 |
Newsweek
In the end, artifice overwhelms art. Apt Pupil is too serious to work as a genre movie, and too contrived to be taken seriously. [12 October 1998]
|
| 50 |
Film Threat
A creepy, if disjointed exploration of the nature of evil. But compared to its predecessor, it's also a bit of a disappointment.
|
| 50 |
ReelViews
Perhaps the most disappointing thing about Apt Pupil is the lack of sustained tension generated by director Bryan Singer.
|
| 50 |
Washington Post
Scares, to be sure, which is certainly one promise on which it delivers. But the film offers little insight into what it seems to be saying is essentially a mundane fact of life: When one devil leaves the world, there is always another one waiting just outside the door.
|
| 50 |
Christian Science Monitor
This sensationalistic tale doesn't delve very far into the issues it raises.
|
| 40 |
Washington Post
Ultimately the movie disintegrates due to its own clumsiness. It's far too coincidence-driven to be believable.
|
| 30 |
LA Weekly
Heartless piece of ill will.
|
| 30 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
McKellen is fine, of course, but the film as a whole offers about as much insight into evil as Ming The Merciless in a “Flash Gordon” serial.
|
| 30 |
The New Yorker
Overwrought and unpleasant nonsense.
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