83
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleThis is one of the wisest, slickest and most unorthodox feminist films one could ever hope to see.
- 91The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsInnocence and corruption live together beneath the harmonious, hypocritical surface of an idyllic-seeming American town, and while that situation may seem familiar now, thanks to the films and TV shows Naked Kiss helped inspire—Blue Velvet comes immediately to mind—familiarity has dulled none of the film’s force.
- 88Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderWhat can I tell you about a film that begins with a bald prostitute beating a man unconscious with her handbag? Except that it's undoubtedly Sam Fuller's vilest, sleaziest masterpiece.
- 88The Globe and Mail (Toronto)The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Something amazing happens in it just about every 90 seconds: From one moment to the next you have no idea where the director is going. It's as if the screen has been hard-wired directly to Fuller's id. [13 Mar 1998]
- 80The New YorkerRichard BrodyThe New YorkerRichard BrodyIts raw and violent subject is matched by its hectic style; the thin production values take a backseat to Fuller’s rich imagination.
- 80EmpireWilliam ThomasEmpireWilliam ThomasTragic and tender Fuller classic. Way ahead of its time.
- 75Slant MagazineSlant MagazineIt’s Sirk-on-a-shoestring, and twice as cynical.
- 75Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonFuller amusingly mixes up his usual hard-knuckled muck-raking melodrama with a sort of soap opera, all done in raw, awesome black-and-white images. In its day, this was the locus classicus B-Movie American auteur thriller. [12 Feb 1999, p.R]