Four boyhood pals perform a heroic act and are changed by the powers they gain in return. Years later, on a hunting trip in the Maine woods, they're overtaken by a vicious blizzard that harbors an ominous presence. Challenged to stop an alien force, the friends must first prevent the slaughter of innocent civilians by a military vigilante ... and then overcome a threat to the bond that unites the four of them.
If hopeless literalist Kasdan could have decided on a tone ... this could have been a gynophobe's Independence Day.
– Laura Sinagra,
Village Voice,
25 Mar 2003
rotten:
... not since Death to Smoochy have so many talented people made such a mess of things.
– Richard Roeper,
Ebert & Roeper,
31 Mar 2003
rotten:
Stupid, sophomoric and moronically silly, it leaves you with the feeling that you might welcome shock treatment just to get your brain back.
– Rex Reed,
New York Observer,
4 Apr 2003
rotten:
King is dreamily free-associating, which doesn't mean he's plumbing his unconscious in search of new nightmare archetypes; it means he's recycling bits of old horror and sci-fi flicks and even setups from his own novels.