45
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittStrong acting and smartly tuned-in directing turn a run-of-the-mill detective story into a striking, sometimes harrowing blend of horror and suspense.
- 70VarietyDavid RooneyVarietyDavid RooneyAn enjoyable throwback to the occult psychological horror-thrillers of the late 1970s. While it flirts often with campy excess, the film remains compelling thanks to its chilly mood, stylish visuals and polished production values.
- 63New York PostMegan LehmannNew York PostMegan LehmannIf you can overlook its TV-episode look, occasional lapses in logic and detours into lurid overkill, this old-school psychological thriller, which marries a tracking-the-serial-killer narrative with occult themes, is a creepy diversion.
- 60L.A. WeeklyL.A. WeeklyAs Willing moves the movie along its well-worn, Ruth Rendell–ish path, it accrues a certain fusty British charm, along with the requisite (and, for this reviewer, most satisfying) amounts of satanic symbolism, creepy mute children and abandoned gothic churches.
- 58Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldSeattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldVisnjic is charismatic, sympathetic and believable in the role, and the first part of the film -- in which he's being drawn into the case against his will and then use his hypnotic skills to get inside the mind of the little girl -- is quite riveting.
- 50TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghBefore it goes down in a soggy mess of scary movie cliches and insultingly stupid plot contrivances, director and co-writer Nick Willing's adaptation of Madison Smartt Bell's novel Dr. Sleep gets in some good, seriously creepy licks.
- 30Village VoiceJessica WinterVillage VoiceJessica WinterWilling's confused procedural -- derived from a novel by Madison Smartt Bell -- is a hasty throwback to the sado-medieval Exorcist descendants of the turn of the millennium (Stigmata, Stir of Echoes, Lost Souls). The somnolent cast can't keep the faith.
- 30Washington PostWashington PostThe plot, loosely derived from Madison Smartt Bell's "Doctor Sleep," is utterly stale. On their way to confront ancient evil, Strother and Losey keep tripping over timeworn cliches.
- 25Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanA cheaply made piece of ''psychological'' occult schlock, subjects you to that depressing stop-and-go rhythm that defines inept fantasy thrillers.
- 25New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack MathewsAdapted - badly and unfaithfully - Close Your Eyes is a convoluted jumble of paranormal psychology, occultism and pagan symbolism, topped off with a quest for immortality.