Poster art for "The Haunting of Molly Hartley."

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Avg. Critic Score: 28 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 50
    Boston Globe |

    Molly Hartley is dull at worst and surprisingly spooky at best. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety |

    This softcore thriller runs strictly by the numbers. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | Jeannette Catsoulis

    Tame and inoffensive, The Haunting of Molly Hartley is no more than a big-screen lasso for the "Gossip Girl" and "Supernatural" demographic. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly |

    The story's a snooze, so the filmmakers punch it up with smash cuts and thunderclaps that turn the most laughably banal items -- birds, mail, an alarm clock -- into cheap jack-in-the-box shocks. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times |

    A dead-on-arrival thriller that resolutely fails to come to life. Read full review

  • 38
    TV Guide |

    Horror of the glossiest, safest kind. It's a boring bubblegum shocker that loses its flavor faster than Fruit Stripes. Read full review

  • 33
    The Onion A.V. Club | Keith Phipps

    It's a horror film better suited for skittish cats than humans. Read full review

  • 30
    The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck

    Playing somewhat like a juvenile version of "Rosemary's Baby," this inept, incoherent attempt to cash in on young girls who can't buy a ticket to the R-rated "Saw V" (or are too lazy to sneak in) will be out of theaters long before the Halloween pumpkins start to rot. Read full review

  • 11
    Austin Chronicle | Marc Savlov

    The real shocker is how hellishly yawn-inducing this utterly pointless and forgettable Haunting turns out to be. It's enough to make you scream. Read full review

  • 10
    L.A. Weekly |

    From Freestyle Releasing, the self-service distributor that brought you "D-War" and "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale," comes a movie even worse than those two combined. Read full review

View more reviews for The Haunting of Molly Hartley on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ High school horror flick more dreary than spooky.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that teens may be drawn to this horror movie by co-star Chace Crawford, who's part of the cast of Gossip Girl. There's some violent, scary stuff, but it's also mostly bloodless (particularly when compared to movies like the Saw franchise) -- more blood is seen from the lead character's stress-induced nosebleeds than from any of the movie's stabbings, assaults, and murders. The film includes a lot of religious imagery and plot points -- characters read Paradise Lost and the Bible, the lead character is baptized in an effort to remove the diabolical influences she's experiencing, and more.
  • Families can talk about some of the philosophical and belief-related points suggested by the film. What do you believe in? Do you have to believe the same things that movie and TV characters do in order to empathize with them? Why or why not? Families can also discuss the film's subplot, in which the lead character was pledged to Satan by her parents at birth in order to save her life. Do children have to pay for the mistakes their parents make?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The lead character is unknowingly part of a Satanist plot to find a host body for the Devil. A supporting character speaks of her own relationship with Jesus Christ, and the lead character goes to her for salvation when the plans for her life become known to her. Some discussion of the nature of madness.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: A man drives dangerously as part of a suicide attempt (with another passenger in the car); scuffling and fights; a girl's arm is sprained in a fight; a woman falls over a railing to her death, landing on a knife she was brandishing. An attempted murder by drowning. Multiple stabbings, with some blood -- including some self-inflicted wounds. A scary, mutilated ghoul is on screen for a split-second. Some hospital/surgical imagery.
  • sex false2 Sex: Some kissing; cleavage is revealed; the lead character strips down to her bra while changing.
  • language false3 Language: Some harsh language, including multiple uses of "s--t," "hell," "damn," and one non-sexual use of "f--king."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Only one brand (Ford, on a car's hood) visible on screen.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: A character is seen extinguishing a cigarette, but not smoking it; teens drink what is presumably alcohol at a party, despite being underage.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

0.5

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

...PG-13 shocker for 11 year-olds Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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The Haunting of Molly Hartley Movie Ratings + Reviews

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