Kim Newman
Select another critic »For 601 reviews, this critic has graded:
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62% higher than the average critic
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2% same as the average critic
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36% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 1.6 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Kim Newman's Scores
- Movies
- TV
Average review score: | 66 | |
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Highest review score: | Repulsion (re-release) | |
Lowest review score: | Æon Flux |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 280 out of 601
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Mixed: 297 out of 601
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Negative: 24 out of 601
601
movie
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Kim Newman
West’s frightfilms are playful — a stereotype is inverted as guys wander half-naked to their doom like stereotypical slasher starlets — but run to serious scares. X is a properly satisfying shocker.- Empire
- Posted Mar 15, 2022
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- Kim Newman
Clouzot achieves an analysis of the human condition at least as bleak as Huston's The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre but without the grandstanding speeches and with more subtle performances.- Empire
- Posted Jul 1, 2020
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- Kim Newman
Though some of the interludes are surprisingly effective – Cong Cong’s playground romance is genuinely sweet – the downtime between disasters is mostly here to let the audience breathe. The draw of the film is its huge set-pieces, which easily best recent Hollywood essays in disaster such as Deepwater Horizon.- Screen Daily
- Posted Jan 24, 2020
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- Kim Newman
There’s quite a bit to admire in Motherless Brooklyn, but mostly in detail work — the hats, the cars, the join-the-dots conspiracy theory — but it doesn’t really catch fire as either a private-eye mystery or a study in Tourette syndrome savantry.- Empire
- Posted Dec 2, 2019
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- Kim Newman
While the film stumbles and meanders, however, there’s no denying that it delivers enough set-pieces for three regular horror films.- Screen Daily
- Posted Sep 3, 2019
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- Kim Newman
King of the Monsters delivers what its genre requires. Truly awesome monster scenes fill the screen, often imbued with emotional resonance by music cues.- Screen Daily
- Posted May 29, 2019
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- Kim Newman
Showing more enthusiasm than aptitude, this earns ‘could do better if it tried’ on its report card — but it’s a strange enough genre mix to be vaguely worth a look.- Empire
- Posted May 16, 2019
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- Kim Newman
A drama of upper-middle-class menace that can’t quite bring itself to be a full-on slasher movie, this has a few too many clichés but offers some creepiness and decent performances.- Empire
- Posted May 14, 2019
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- Kim Newman
Despite lashings of bright red gore and the obvious enthusiasm of its gibbering hordes, Redcon-1 is a hard slog. Nearly two hours of grunts vs zombies feels punitive.- Empire
- Posted May 6, 2019
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- Kim Newman
The hardest power to depict onscreen is the wisdom of Solomon, but Shazam! makes clever decisions, mixing middle school snark with disarming sweetness. And — yes — it delivers the requisite lightning-strike punch-’em-ups with considerable force.- Empire
- Posted Mar 23, 2019
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- Kim Newman
A soft-spoken yet chilling domestic horror film that tells its slightly overfamiliar tale effectively, with strong performances, quietly disturbing atmosphere, one or two friendly clichés, and good, old- fashioned scares.- Empire
- Posted Feb 26, 2019
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- Kim Newman
It may be a touch overlong – perhaps because everyone has to stop running to sing songs at regular intervals – and the emotional beats familiar, with moments of poignance, tragedy, gruesome comedy (a decapitated zombie in a snowman suit) and absurdity.- Screen Daily
- Posted Nov 28, 2018
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- Kim Newman
This isn’t an atrocity on the level of, say, Rob Zombie’s Halloween — but it is a horror designed to test your patience rather than your nerves.- Empire
- Posted Nov 12, 2018
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- Kim Newman
Some will find this impenetrable and irritating, but audiences willing to tune into Hosking’s off-kilter style will be moved by the ridiculous love stories and relish the hilarious eccentricity.- Empire
- Posted Oct 22, 2018
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- Kim Newman
The real nun in the movie is the heroine, played by a spirited Taissa Farmiga, and the dramatic weight falls on her able shoulders.- Empire
- Posted Sep 6, 2018
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- Kim Newman
Winning and confusing in equal measure, this Japanese animated feature is likely to attract devout admirers but also baffle a significant number of viewers.- Screen Daily
- Posted Aug 21, 2018
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- Kim Newman
Suspenseful and thought-provoking, The Cured is a serious, engaged horror movie. More upsetting than scary, it ratchets up the tension unsettlingly. There’s life in zombies yet.- Empire
- Posted May 14, 2018
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- Kim Newman
By no means a conventional horror film, yet several degrees more twisted and gruesome than the average indie relationships drama, this is likely to appeal to more adventurous cult film fans.- Screen Daily
- Posted Apr 4, 2018
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- Kim Newman
The Endless is a demanding, rewarding picture with moments of unusual terror and awe, offering a science fiction/horror scenario on a literally cosmic scale which boils down to a study of a complicated sibling relationship.- Screen Daily
- Posted Apr 2, 2018
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- Kim Newman
A bravura monster movie which just doesn’t let up, ratcheting tension with nary a word uttered on screen. It also boasts great creature design and a breakthrough performance from young Millicent Simmonds.- Empire
- Posted Mar 19, 2018
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- Kim Newman
Burke — perhaps best-known as the grown-up version of the scary baby in the last films in the Twilight saga — is outstanding as the fragile, yet determined heroine who is terrorised beyond the bounds of sanity but has to remember that she might be doing all this to herself.- Screen Daily
- Posted Feb 8, 2018
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- Kim Newman
It’s an entertaining, engaging, colourful picture in its own right with decently-handled action-adventure set-pieces and sly comedy, detouring from the expected thrills and spills into body-hopping comedy drama.- Screen Daily
- Posted Dec 8, 2017
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- Kim Newman
An ordinary, if effective horror picture, is predictable fare with two big ticks to its benefit: a penchant for creep-out scares involving its looming spectre; and a committed, sympathetic performance from Macdonald.- Empire
- Posted Nov 16, 2017
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- Kim Newman
If you don’t like Saw, this isn’t going to change your mind – but it’s skilful, satisfying schlock and respectful of its fanbase. And the final death is a show-stopping coup de grace.- Empire
- Posted Oct 26, 2017
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- Kim Newman
Well-acted, it lacks the standout performances or star presences which propelled the tonally-similar Ex Machina to more than cult success. While it will play to fans of cerebral science fiction, it may be less grabby for general audiences.- Screen Daily
- Posted Sep 25, 2017
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- Kim Newman
Though it could do with being weirder and wilder, this high-concept mash-up — what if crooks robbed a haunted bank? — features fine work from a brace of rising stars.- Empire
- Posted Sep 11, 2017
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- Kim Newman
A production line effort with an eye on cashflow rather than the demented work of art Hooper loosed on the world, this eighth entry is above average for its attenuated series. Gore levels are as high as expected and, naturally, the finale leaves things open for further instalments.- Screen Daily
- Posted Aug 31, 2017
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- Kim Newman
A worthy — if chilly and difficult — addition to the sadly extensive filmography of American mass murder. The soundtrack from Canadian singer-songwriter Maica Armata adds some much-needed heart.- Empire
- Posted Aug 14, 2017
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- Kim Newman
A little reticent in gore gimmicks for the Final Destination crowd, but considered as a middle school between Goosebumps and Clive Barker, it’s just the haunted lottery ticket.- Empire
- Posted Jul 31, 2017
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- Kim Newman
Deliberately uncomfortable viewing, this is nevertheless a compelling exercise in gritty psycho-noir with outstanding performances and real dramatic weight. Director Ben Young is a name to watch.- Empire
- Posted Jul 24, 2017
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