Dead Again

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Dead Again does not come across as a Hitchcock knock-off, but as a motion picture that incorporates familiar themes and approaches while maintaining its own integrity and identity. Not once during the entire production is there an obviously stolen scene or camera angle replication.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

Deliciously witty and entertaining… A first-rate thriller, one that's likely to generate as much word-of-mouth as “Alien,'' “Carrie'' and “Psycho'' did in their time. [23 Aug 1991, Daily Notebook, p.F1]

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

If "Henry V," the first film [Branaugh] directed and starred in, caused people to compare him to Olivier, "Dead Again" will inspire comparisons to Welles and Hitchcock - and the Olivier of Hitchcock's "Rebecca."

Entertainment Weekly Jill Rachlin

With its stylized black-and-white sequences and fast-paced melodramatic plot, this homage to film noir is both intense and purposely self-conscious.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Branagh has mastered the tricky high-wire act of simultaneously kidding the conventions he is being absolutely faithful to, allowing us to squeal with both fright and knowing laughter. His is a film lover's film [23 Aug 1991, Calendar, p.F1]

Time Richard Schickel

Yet despite all that boring talk, Dead Again is a hit, the late-blooming rose of a movie summer that was mostly mulch. [23 Sept 1991, p.73]

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Even if this film were more gripping than it is, and it grips somewhat, it would be a bit disappointing because it aims so low. Let's hope that Branagh now has the Hollywood adoration out of his system. [16 Dec 1991, p.30]

Variety Staff (Not Credited)

Engaging film style is buoyed by an infectious sense of fun and punctuated by wild and woolly character turns.

The New York Times Vincent Canby

A big, convoluted, entertainingly dizzy romantic mystery melodrama.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

The cinematic equivalent of a "good read" - pick it up and you can't put it down; put it down and it's gone forever.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Loads of fun even if it's ultimately strangled by its excesses.

Austin Chronicle Steve Davis

Hopelessly muddled but doggedly entertaining.

TV Guide Staff (Non Credited)

However unlikely the twists and turns in this mystery, Dead Again moves briskly forward, never weighed down by any sense of seriousness.

USA Today Mike Clark

It's fun to see somebody revive the amnesia genre - how long has it been? - but the conceit quickly grows irksome. Only Thompson, who manages to be appealing in both of her roles, will likely reap much from this DOA folly. [23 Aug 1991, Life, p.4D]

Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr

Emerges as cutty, indistinct and confused, full of shots that don't match and spatial conceptions that would look flat even on TV. The more Branagh strains to appear “cinematic,'' the more he looks like a man of the theater. [23 Aug 1991, Friday, p.B]

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Directing with an eye to "Rebecca," Branagh brings more mood than suspense to this apparent hommage to Hitchcock. Still, he raises no goose bumps.

The New Yorker Terrence Rafferty

When it's time to wrap up the mystery, the movie leaves too many of the plot's enigmas unresolved, and Branagh's insouciance loses its charm.

Empire Angie Errigo

The ambitious, initially intriguing Dead Again fails so spectacularly it may well become the fetish of a camp cult.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

A two-hour search for a pulse... A miscalculation from a prodigious talent who has forgotten that you squeeze the life out of romance when you don't give it space to breathe.