The film received mixed reviews when first broadcast on Showtime. Henry Stewart of "L Magazine" said: "Garris evinces high-grade professionalism, but his comic-book approximations of real emotions—like desire, madness and murderlust—feel empty. Hitchcock this most certainly ain't." Ninja Dixon.com stated: "This is a good TV movie, way better than reputation, and continues the tradition of great acting in the series." Cult Reviews.com said: "The film is shot well, the fire sequence, by Rodney Charters, is particularly stunning. The only real trouble with this film is the bad writing, which, considering that it was the baby of the scriptwriter of the original, Joseph Stefano, is very disappointing indeed." Matt Poirier of Direct to Video Connoisseur.com stated: "This was a pretty unmemorable movie. It tried to make references to the original, like one where Perkins cuts his thumb, and the blood going into the drain mimics the blood in the famous shower scene. Way too obvious and pretty obnoxious." Despite some negative reviews, the film received high Nielson ratings with around 10 million viewers watching the premiere.