55
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90VarietyVarietySeeps with atmosphere, unfolds at a deceptively relaxed pace, steadily accumulates noirish grit, then dizzily plunges into a Lynch-like plumbing of the dark passions and nasty secrets at the heart of Main Street, USA.
- 80Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonA crazy, intentionally ludicrous movie that's a lot of film-noir fun.
- 75Chicago TribuneDave KehrChicago TribuneDave KehrPretty silly. The Hot Spot certainly is, and it's occasionally quite entertaining for it, though the picture never really achieves a dimension beyond that of a Playboy Party Joke. [26 Oct 1990, Friday, p.I]
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertOnly movie lovers who have marinated their imaginations in the great B movies from RKO and Republic will recognize The Hot Spot as a superior work in an old tradition - as a manipulation of story elements as mannered and deliberate, in its way, as variations on a theme for the piano.
- 63USA TodayMike ClarkUSA TodayMike ClarkAn overlong guilty pleasure. [12 Oct 1990, Life, 4D]
- 50Los Angeles TimesPeter RainerLos Angeles TimesPeter RainerThe pulpiness is less homage than rip-off. There are no tricks up this film's frayed sleeve… Fatalism plus a lot of heavy breathing, and a flash of skin--it's a winning formula, all right. These movies are like Harlequin Romances for slumming highbrows [12 Oct 1990]
- 50Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumPretty enjoyable as a piece of campy sleaze--especially for the first half hour, before the storytelling starts to dawdle.
- 50TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghPart of the problem is its length; at two hours and ten minutes it meanders rather than building up a head of steam and barreling straight through logic and plausibility on the way to Hell.
- 40Washington PostHal HinsonWashington PostHal HinsonMadsen may not be the most egregiously untalented of the new movie beauties, but she's close to it. As Dolly, she presents a Southern accent as ludicrous as any in captivity; she keeps trying for Blanche DuBois and coming out with Gomer Pyle.
- 25San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleA case of ho-hum humping leading to boring betrayal. The ingredients are predictable and the snail's pace is punishing. [26 Oct 1990, Daily Datebook, p.E3]