When New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who preys on patrons of the city's underground bars, young rookie Steve Burns infiltrates the S&M subculture to try and lure him out of the shadows.
What we're left with is a movie without the courage to declare itself.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
9 Jun 2014
rotten:
This detective melodrama has something to offend almost everyone.
– Frank Rich,
TIME Magazine,
9 Jun 2014
rotten:
What's left is the framework for a graphic, brutal, sickening film, without the violent effects that might have made sense (however illegitimate) out of the conception.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
9 Jun 2014
rotten:
Taking away the kissing, caressing and a few bloody killings, Friedkin has no story, though picture pretends to be a murder mystery combined with a study of Al Pacino's psychological degradation.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
26 Mar 2009
fresh:
Its gamy images inside the leather and S&M gay bars along the Greenwich Village waterfront are both busy and dark.