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Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Bless The Child
Overwhelming dislike
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Cathy Cash Spellman (novel)
Thomas Rickman
Clifford Green
Ellen Green
Directed by: Chuck Russell
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 11, 2000
DVD: February 13, 2001
Running Time: 107 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for violence, drug content and brief language
Starring Kim Basinger, Jimmy Smits, and Rufus Sewell
A six-year-old is targeted by Satanists to carry out a Biblical prophecy. Her aunt (Basinger) and a police detective (Smits) team up to foil the plan.
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
The movie works -- at least marginally.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Vicky Edwards
Entertaining, but it doesn't add enough to the genre to make it truly blessed.
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Satanic silliness undermines this gloomy horror picture.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
A schlocky thriller that might appeal to less discriminating members of the mall crowd.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Should have sold its soul for a little help in the script department.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Often trite and predictable but grudgingly likable in the end.
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut J. Rentilly
Pop junk, an airport paperback, literally, turned into a mid-budget devil thriller.
Boston Globe Jay Carr
Causes one to wish... that movies about the supernatural could make contact with supernatural script doctors.
USA Today Susan Wloszczyna
A cheesy crock of religious mumbo jumbo.
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
The movie is somewhat below average. The plot doesn't always hold together.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
A forehead-poundingly bad picture.
Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
Goes straight to hell, and in this case it is its own handbasket.
New York Post Jonathan Foreman
Mostly ludicrous, but occasionally effective.
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
The unintentional effect of movies like Bless the Child is that they are enough to make agnostics out of true believers.
Film.com Ernest Hardy
Far from the worst film this summer, but it also doesn't rate strong enough to be a future video rental.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Sara Wildberger
The whole thing's grotesque as a gargoyle and ugly as sin.
Film.com Gemma Files
Good vs. Evil For Dummies....and I, for one, dislike being treated like a Dummy.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
The scariest thing about this hokey bombast is that it got made in the first place.
Read Full Review >Variety Robert Koehler
Combines the most rudimentary of Catholic-inspired good vs. evil plots with visual effects that would barely pass muster in episodic TV.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark
Dreadful demonic disaster.
LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
Director Chuck Russell ("The Mask") and screenwriter Thomas Rickman don't need new agents -- they need backup careers.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Mark Holcomb
A callous piece of work that exploits images of children in pain or jeopardy.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
Horrendous dialogue and horrific directing dominate this thriller.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Saer A. gave it a 1:
There is no reason at all to watch this vulgar, brutal, trash. Bless The Child does not work at all.
Christine D. gave it a 1:
This movie was horrible! They took an outstanding book and totally turned it into trash. BUT who could be shocked it happens all the time.
Mama J. gave it a 10:
I liked it it was great!
Ryan M. gave it a 6:
Though it offers thrills and chills. Basinger can't get out the kind of "kick-ass girl power" that Jodie Foster and Jullianne Moore did in the part of Clarice Starling, which is exactly what Basinger is trying to be.
Steve L. gave it a 5:
Not sure how I feel about this one--it's almost dull and almost inviting.
