Hal Hinson writing in the Washington Post gave the film a lukewarm review and said "The punk jaggedness they bring to their derivations is the only hint of originality, but this, too, seems a little staid. It feels like punk on the downward swing, after most of its rude energy has dissipated." Vincent Canby in the New York Times was more favourable and drew comparisons to "an upscale John Waters satire" and "Jean-Luc Godard's pre-Maoist period" In January 1988 the film was one of several attacked in the Sunday Times by Oxford University historian Norman Stone for their critique of Thatcherite society and values, Stone describing them as "worthless and insulting" and "riddled with left wing bias".