1968, Renata Adler from The New York Times opined that it is "not one of Bergman's great films", but positively reviewed the acting of von Sydow, Ullmann and Thulin. Roger Ebert rated Hour of the Wolf three out of four, calling it "a difficult film, and not altogether a successful one", and crediting Bergman with achieving "deeply emotional results with very stark, almost objective, scenes". In New York, Judith Crist called it "a minor effort" from Bergman, not adding much to his past filmography, while crediting it for "stark intellectualizing and lush fantasizing". Time hailed von Sydow as "gothically brilliant" and stated the film cemented Ullmann's position as one of the foremost Scandinavian actresses, also crediting Sven Nykvist for "phosphorescent" cinematography. Critic Richard Schickel judged the visuals "more exciting" than those in Persona, but said Hour of the Wolf appeared to be a "regression". At the 1968 National Board of Review Awards, Ullmann was named Best Actress for both Hour of the Wolf and Shame. At the 1968 National Society of Film Critics Awards, Ullmann was named Best Actress for both films and Bergman won Best Director for both films. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92%, based on 24 reviews with an average rating of 7.73/10. In 1992, critic James Monaco rated Hour of the Wolf three out of five, dubbing it a "fine acting exercise". The New Yorker recalled it in 1999 as "probably the darkest of Ingmar Bergman’s journeys into his shadowy interior", mentioning the "ferocity" of the scene where Johan murders a boy. In 2000 Kim Newman of Empire Online praised Hour of the Wolf as "one of the most sinisterly beautiful black-and-white horror films you will ever see". Time Out London called it "a brilliant gothic fantasy". In the British Film Institute's 2012 Sight & Sound polls, Hour of the Wolf received three critics' votes and 11 directors' votes, placing it at 44th in the latter poll. In his 2014 Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin rated the film three out of four, calling it "lesser Bergman" but with "first-rate" performances. Hour of the Wolf is listed in the film reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, which cited references to the work of E.T.A. Hoffman. IndieWire also named it in 2015 as one of the 15 greatest Bergman films, calling it "not wholly successful" but citing the