Jeannette Catsoulis of "The New York Times" wrote of the film: "With a peephole-riddled set and a flashback-heavy screenplay, "Black Christmas" smothers terror beneath a blanket of unnecessary information, revealing too much and teasing too little. And despite some nifty camerawork — a shot of an asylum inmate gobbling Christmas dinner cuts seamlessly to a couple snogging in a car — the movie is a dismal Christmas card to its predecessor." "The Guardian"s Peter Bradshaw, however, found the backstory "ingenious," but concluded: "For the first 20 minutes or so, "Black Christmas" has some smart ideas and gags: then it all just gets predictable." Sam Adams of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote, "Like an ugly tie or a pair of slipper socks, "Black Christmas" is destined to be forgotten the instant it's unwrapped, gathering dust until the season rolls around again."