50
San Francisco Chronicle by Bob Graham
Poetry, lesbian sex and murder might be a killer combination if a deadly pace weren't included in the mix.
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50
McGillis, though, is the film's worst enemy. Her wooden attempts to recreate Kathleen Turner circa 1981 undermine too many scenes.
10
The film seems dimly aware of its own ridiculousness, but it lacks the constitution for self-mockery.
63
New York Daily News by Jami Bernard
Kelly McGillis quite literally as you've never seen her -- as a manipulative, icy sex goddess in whose bedroom there are no limits.
75
Less elliptical and more down-and-dirty than Lang's interesting debut film, ''The Well,'' this one tumbles through Sydney's academic and alternative poetry circles and is built around a lesbian private eye.
90
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
In directing The Monkey's Mask from Annie Kennedy's adaptation of Dorothy Porter's novel-in-poetry, Samantha Lang displays considerable style and assurance, with Porter and McGillis giving beautifully nuanced portrayals.
38
Remarkably sluggish and not particularly suspenseful.
30
Austin Chronicle by Marjorie Baumgarten
The Monkey's Mask is filmed with an eye toward an arthouse sheen, although Lang's dramatic pacing is sluggish and dull.
80
What makes the film compelling is the filmmakers' ability to blend a studied (occasionally academic) dissection of cultural and sexual decadence with a potboiler plot.
70
Builds and sustains considerable interest through its unexpected characterizations, unusual milieu and atmospheric style.