Jim Ridley of "The Village Voice" wrote: "The product itself isn't so much afterthought as afterbirth – a bloody mess to be dumped discreetly." When compared to the original, Desson Thomson of "The Washington Post" calls it "a drab, unimaginative remake. [...] The remake neither pays perceptive tribute to the original nor updates it in anything but hackneyed form." Joe Leydon of "Variety" goes on to say, "[...] there can be no argument regarding the scant merits of its slapdash, soporifically routine remake, suitable only for the least discriminating of gore hounds." Jason Anderson of "The Globe and Mail" wrote, "Lazy, perfunctory and free of tension, the new version will satisfy neither the admirers of the original nor anyone looking for a gory respite from seasonal good cheer," while Michael Rechtshaffen of "Reuters" wrote: "There are a couple clever touches here and there, including one sequence in which the end of a candy cane has been carefully licked into a highly lethal weapon, but for the most part the accompanying histrionics feel more regressive than retro."