Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 36% (Critics) / 46% (Audience)
Directed By: Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion
Written By: Leigh Whannell and Ian Brennan
Starring: Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill and Jorge Garcia
Studio: Lionsgate Premiere
Synopsis: A mysterious virus hits an isolated elementary school, transforming the kids into a feral swarm of mass savages. An unlikely hero must lead a motley band of teachers in the fight of their lives. – (Source)

The Good:
I love this premise because I personally feel that small children are some of the creepiest things on the planet and turning them into man-eating rage zombies (from a gnarly chicken nugget induced virus no less) is a really inspired concept for a potentially classic horror movie. And watching a group of educators dispatch the little gremlins with extreme prejudice is a bit of a hoot.
The cast is full of actors who I enjoy in pretty much anything they do with a special shout out to Rainn Wilson who seems to be the only actor truly in tune with the vibe this movie should be going for.

The Bad:
The best examples of comedy-horror (or horror-comedy depending on what side you butter your toast) tend to add a little bit of pathos to the scary hijinks but COOTIES seemed to go out of its way to avoid any real moments of seriousness. And then it didn’t even go as far into the absurdly over-the-top either and that can result in a comedy-horror classic like what we got with a movie like TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL.
I also am really confused at just how a film with this premise and this cast of actors could have so many moments where it stopped being a crazy fun ride and just felt like a chore to get through.

The Ugly:
Was not feeling how they did Big Mike from CHUCK so dirty…that was uncool, man.

Final Verdict: A wonderful concept and a snazzy cast never quite comes together into the scary fun movie it should have been. It has moments but they are never sustained. Rainn Wilson tries his hardest to be the spark that this film needs but he gets overwhelmed by this films tendency to just be meh for long stretches of time.

Grade: C+