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THE BAY (2012)Movie Reviews
Horror thriller about a reporter who uncovers the truth about a mysterious event that killed hundreds of people at a July 4th celebration three years earlier. Cast:Kristen Connolly, Jane McNeill, Christopher Denham, Michael Beasley, Kether Donohue, Anthony Reynolds, Andy Stahl, James Patrick Freetly, Lauren Cohn, John Harrington Bland, Stacy Rabon, Alisa Harris, Andrew R. Kaplan, Kenny Alfonso, Stephen KunkenDirector:Barry LevinsonRelease Date:November 2, 2012DVD Release:March 5, 2013From:Roadside AttractionsRating:RLength:1 hr 24 min
MARCH 5, 2013
The Bay (2012), Good (Not Great) Reviews, Mixed Key Cities
The Bay (2012) played in key cities to good not great reviews that at the same time were mixed. • Tom Long wrote in the Detroit News, "Barry Levinson knows how to dress things up, and he does a pretty good job of balancing shriek-shtick scares and gory revelations with a found-footage narrative." More Reviews Below...
The Bay (2012) Positive Reviews (23 Reviews, reviews below)
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...one hell of a creepy little eco-horror pic. One minute, folks are splashing around the Maryland shoreline; the next, they're ravaged by hideous parasitic isopods..."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 84 words, 11/02/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "At least the film is watchable and audible, something you can't say for most found-footage films, including great stretches of the 'Paranormal Activity' series..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 378 words, 11/09/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (7 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "There is very little that is genuinely haunting, jolting or terrifying. If you are not already afraid about the state of our waterways, this movie won't help you get there."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 416 words, 11/02/12
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: WEAK "The story becomes more ridiculous as it escalates, the film's over-determined ecological focus undermining any real horror movie tension."(See all of Mark Olsen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 222 words, 11/02/12
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: POOR(cg) "...a shakycam found-footage horror movie every bit as fake-looking, clumsy and unscary as your average college student working on a $200 budget."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 158 words, 11/02/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "At least the film is watchable and audible, something you can't say for most found-footage films, including great stretches of the 'Paranormal Activity' series..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 378 words, 11/09/12
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a sincere effort by a 70-year-old veteran filmmaker to speak about the world we live in now, in what he perceives to be the language of his audience."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 269 words, 10/31/12
KEY CITIES (7 Reviews)
Sean O'Connell, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "Like 'Jaws,' it dabbles in exaggerated terrors that are grounded in shades of realism. And like 'Jaws,' it will scare you out of the water for the immediate future."(See all of Sean O'Connell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 518 words, 11/02/12
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a small movie but an effective one, using found footage as a means to an end and not as an end in itself. More like it would be a welcome trend."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 427 words, 11/02/12
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: MODERATE(cg) "...lacks the creepy immediacy of even the most misbegotten of the found-footage genre... it might have a point, but it has no dramatic structure or sense of suspense."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 665 words, 11/02/12
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "...isn't just a bunch of thrills, a prank to make audiences flinch and scream.... presents something real, but in the heightened and extreme dialect of movies."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 353 words, 11/02/12
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...takes the found-footage concept and runs off with it, screaming.... efficiently creates some scares.... fades quickly -- like blood in the water."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 258 words, 11/02/12
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...better than a shallow exercise, but crabby horror fans may have preferred that Barry Levinson took a real plunge."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 323 words, 11/02/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: GOOD(cg) "Barry Levinson knows how to dress things up, and he does a pretty good job of balancing shriek-shtick scares and gory revelations with a found-footage narrative."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 419 words, 11/02/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (6 Reviews)
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a sincere effort by a 70-year-old veteran filmmaker to speak about the world we live in now, in what he perceives to be the language of his audience."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 269 words, 10/31/12
Anne Lewinson, Boston Phoenix: WEAK(cg) "...as strident as late George Romero but a lot less fun.... at least Levinson hammers it home that his beloved Chesapeake Bay -- like this movie -- is 40 percent dead."(See all of Anne Lewinson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 169 words, 11/01/12
Noel Murray, AV Club: EXCELLENT(cg) "...made to look as though it's been cobbled together from cell phones and surveillance cameras, much like Brian De Palma's 'Redacted'.... surprisingly satisfying..."(See all of Noel Murray's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 374 words, 11/01/12
Chris Cabin, Slant: MODERATE(cg) "...aesthetically adventurous, if not terribly original... At once impassioned and wholly manipulative... a ruminative worst-case scenario as genre piece..."(See all of Chris Cabin's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 437 words, 10/28/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (4 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "There is very little that is genuinely haunting, jolting or terrifying. If you are not already afraid about the state of our waterways, this movie won't help you get there."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 416 words, 11/02/12
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "The story becomes more ridiculous as it escalates, the film's over-determined ecological focus undermining any real horror movie tension."(See all of Mark Olsen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 222 words, 11/02/12
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: GOOD "...crude but highly unsettling... the integrity and good intentions of this film shine through, as does its metaphorical significance.... It's schlock with honor..."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,153 words, 11/01/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Dennis Harvey, Daily Variety: POOR "...a gruesome but uninspired environmental-disaster thriller that's an unconvincing example of the overexposed faux-found-footage horror subgenre."(See all of Dennis Harvey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 175 words, 09/14/12
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: VERY GOOD "...an unnerving eco-disaster thriller that refreshes the found-footage trend with surprising effectiveness... sustains tension while delivering squirms..."(See all of David Rooney's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,023 words, 09/12/12
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "The story becomes more ridiculous as it escalates, the film's over-determined ecological focus undermining any real horror movie tension."(See all of Mark Olsen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 222 words, 11/02/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "There is very little that is genuinely haunting, jolting or terrifying. If you are not already afraid about the state of our waterways, this movie won't help you get there."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 416 words, 11/02/12
22.9 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Bay (2012)'s reviews are separated by an average 22.9 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Bay (2012) (23 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Bay (2012)'s reviews cover 29.6% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 9,609 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 418 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
The Bay (2012) Coverage, Volume & Length (23 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 26.2 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Bay (2012)'s reviews on average broke 26.2 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Bay (2012)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Bay (2012) (23 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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