Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a mild 59%. They said only 47% of audiences liked the movie. Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly gave it a score of 75. He commented "Worms goes light (but not too light) on the gore and the goo." Joanne Kaufman of The Wall Street Journal said "After the first bit of fish bait is consumed, actually even before, this one-trick movie is a tough slog."