Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert discussed the film on an October 23, 1980 episode of Sneak Previews, and they found the film "gruesome and despicable" and "expressing hatred for woman." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times expressed a similar sentiment, describing it as a "trashy violence-against women jolter."
The critics' reviews of the film were overwhelmingly negative, highlighting its graphic violence and misogynistic themes.