Black Rock 2012

Neil Genzlinger, New York Times: The male characters here are too thinly developed for this to be a top-notch survival thriller, but Ms. Aselton knows how to get the pulse pounding. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: The writing tanks while the actors try to stay above water, but nobody leaves a trace on the radar. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: It sets up this distaff-Deliverance scenario much better than it pays it off. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: The shotgun wedding of mumblecore and bare-bones genre filmmaking is promising in theory, but lackluster and surprisingly generic in practice. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Black Rock is well-acted, and contains a couple of memorable scenes, but for the most part this is a blah buddy dramedy that transforms into a blah chase thriller. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Maybe it's a parody? Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: Unexpectedly sturdy in some ways, shaky in others. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Irector Katie Aselton's film is actually pretty interesting, starting with the way Aselton handles the violence, and what she does and doesn't choose to emphasize. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: It works because Aselton and Bell turn in wildly physical, primal performances. You do not want to mess with these women. "Black Rock" is ferocious stuff. Read more

Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter: Working from a ruthlessly efficient script by husband Mark Duplass, Aselton effortlessly sets up the women's reunion scenario before effectively flipping the action from drama to thriller. Read more

Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times: Aselton, you sure have a purty mouth, but what are you trying to say? Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: "Black Rock" is as dingy and dirty as the genre thrillers it appears to want to one-up. All it does, though, is bring everyone down. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: This indie, female-centric riff on "Deliverance" is spare, smartly written and shot through with moments of twig-snapping tension. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: This is a lean and mean variation on a familiar theme, tense throughout, with some terrific performances. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: It seemed that Black Rock might take its very basic premise and use it as a platform to explore larger ideas. But even on its own terms as just a lean-and-mean genre exercise, this one's not all that interesting. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: 'Black Rock' is never dull, but it's hardly the attention-grabbing calling card its creator presumably intended. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: A soundtrack of churning rock songs by the Kills is as close as this misfire gets to authentic grrrl power, borrowed as it is. Read more

Rob Nelson, Variety: Straining to be a distaff "Deliverance," indie thriller Black Rock is unable to shock, much less convince. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: Black Rock upends most American action films' nativist impulses, but it never settles into satirizing or transcending them. Read more