"Director Richard Franklin (Psycho II) eventually lets Patrick's powers go haywire, but the first half of the film combines sinister atmosphere-building with a justified faith that an immobile killer is still an ever-present threat. The spitting is a shock every time—and when Patrick starts getting some feeling back in his lower regions, that's plenty creepy too—but there's tension every time Kathie or another hospital worker blithely works the monitors or adjusts the sheets around him. He's like a coiled rattlesnake ready to strike, and taking a cue from the Italians, Franklin focuses heavily on Thompson's baby blues, sensing not only life behind his eyes, but a kind of chilling, crystal-ball omniscience." - Scott Tobias, The Dissolve