"Variety" wrote that the film "seems as if it were made with a demographics sampler entitled '10 Sleazy Ways To Cash In On The Exploitation Market.' The only trouble is the filmmakers have employed all ten techniques in one picture. The result is a combination horror-kung-fu-oater-woman-in-peril-mad-scientist film with more unintentional laughs than probably appear possible in the space of 100 minutes." John Corry of "The New York Times" thought that the only interesting scenes are those with the mad scientists, as Norris has "no screen presence to speak of." Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" called Norris' martial arts "a curious footnote in a formula horror film". Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" praised the "shrewd, witty script." Richard Christiansen of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "As in 'Jackson County Jail,' his 1976 sleeper hit, Miller has given some inventive, energetic touches to a crude formula film. He doesn't deal in sophisticated material, but he's surprisingly sophisticated in the way he handles his raw material." Jimmy Summers wrote in "BoxOffice" magazine, "How you take all this depends a great deal on whether you accept it as tongue-in-cheek satire or simply dismiss it as dumb filmmaking. Considering how corny and obvious most of it is, you hope for the sake of the filmmakers they meant to be tongue-in-cheek."