After decades, the shock has faded, but the film remains divisive. On IMDb, it holds a score of . A selection of 59 reviews collected on Kinorium gives it an average of 6.8/10 . The late Roger Ebert, one of America's most influential critics, was a notable defender, giving the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and describing it as a "hypnotic" exploration of a bizarre obsession.