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MOVIES / ON DVD / HEAVENLY CREATURES
Heavenly Creatures

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Heavenly Creatures (1994)

95%
100%
90%
N/A
N/A
N/A
95 %
Reviews Counted: 42 Fresh: 40  Rotten:2 Average Rating: 8.3/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Synopsis: HEAVENLY CREATURES represented a departure of sorts for horror director Peter Jackson and was the first film to earn him widespread critical acclaim. Jackson both co-wrote and co-produced the picture, which is based on an actual 1954 murder case. The two protagonists, New Zealand... HEAVENLY CREATURES represented a departure of sorts for horror director Peter Jackson and was the first film to earn him widespread critical acclaim. Jackson both co-wrote and co-produced the picture, which is based on an actual 1954 murder case. The two protagonists, New Zealand schoolgirls Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme, first meet when Juliet (Kate Winslet in her silver-screen debut) is introduced to Pauline's class as a new student. Pauline (Melanie Lynskey), an introvert who feels misunderstood by her family and peers, is instantly smitten with the sophisticated and self-confident newcomer, and the girls become best friends. Eventually, Pauline and Juliet begin spending more and more time together, withdrawing into a magical land of their own invention--Borovnia, a fairy-tale kingdom populated by lifesize clay figures. The girls' distraught families fear that the friendship is becoming unhealthy, and Juliet's parents decide to end things by sending their daughter away. Faced with their impending separation, the girls decide nothing will tear them apart, leading to an unexpectedly grisly denouement made even more unnerving by the ignorance of their own delusion. A harrowing story of misdirected adolescent creativity, Jackson's HEAVENLY CREATURES is chillingly unforgettable. [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison

Director: Peter Jackson

DVD Info

Release:

Dec 9, 2003

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35:1

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital Surround - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Trailer - Theatrical Trailer

Interactive Features:

  • Scene Access
  • Interactive Menus

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image
N/A

Acted with conviction, and directed and written with febrile vibrancy.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
06/06/01
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
4/5

17-year-old Kate Winslet made her film debut in this compelling blend of true crime and dark fantasy...

Full Review | comment Comment
04/17/01
Neil Smith
BBC
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
01/01/00
Keith H. Brown
Edinburgh U Film Society
Ratings Image
5/5

The inner tension of the film emerges from Jackson's enjoyment of the girls' bustling insanity and then his gradual withdrawal from it.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/11/08
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image
N/A

Combines original vision, a drop-dead command of the medium and a successful marriage between a dazzling, kinetic techno-show and a complex, credible portrait of the out-of-control relationship between the crime's two schoolgirl perpetrators.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/11/08
David Rooney
Variety
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Ratings Image
N/A

Unlike the campy excess of Jackson's earlier Dead Alive, deliberate overkill ltimately points toward a dearth of ideas rather than a surfeit.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/11/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Ratings Image
4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
01/10/08
John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews
Ratings Image
3.5/4

This incredible film may be director Peter Jackson's masterpiece.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/07/07
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
Ratings Image
A

A dark, astounding film from Peter Jackson, showing his mastery of blending fact and fantasy. A deserved winner of Venice Festival's Silver Lion and Toronto Fest's Critics Award. Along with Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, this is 1994's most audacious film.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/04/06
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image
4/5

Fantasy and reality blur in a chilling film that shows Jackson's limitless potential

comment Comment
09/06/06
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
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4/5

The movie that first got Jackson & Winslet noticed

comment Comment
03/29/06
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly
Ratings Image
5/5

No review available.

comment Comment
07/18/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image
4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
07/07/05
Joe Williams
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Ratings Image
4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
06/29/05
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World
Ratings Image
4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
04/22/05
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ratings Image
5/5

No review available.

comment Comment
02/20/04
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Ratings Image
4/4

Peter Jackson creates a rich, haunting atmosphere, deftly juggling the eerily giddy fantasy world of the girls and their harsh, violent reality.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/11/04
Michael Dequina
Mr. Brown's Movies
Ratings Image
2/5

No review available.

comment Comment
08/01/03
Tony Toscano
Talking Pictures (U.S.)
Ratings Image
4/5

A disturbing, boldly conceived story.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/30/03
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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