Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively reported that 22% of 50 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 4.45/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Bruce willie shot aside, the only other things popping out in "Color of Night" are some ridiculous plot contortions and majorly camp moments." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.