and directing are uniformly bad. [...] even the least demanding of genre fans will be hard-pressed to tremble in its presence". Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle wrote: "Perhaps it's time for Tobe Hooper to hang up his light meter. After a string of disappointments culminating in this silly waste of time, it's hard to care if horror's golden boy carries on or not". Godfrey Cheshire of Variety called its villain a "silly contrivance" and described the acting and story as lackluster. Stephen Holden of The New York Times called it "a potpourri of supernatural cliches and warmed-over Stephen King notions about corruption randomly stuck together with fill-in-the-blanks dialogue". David Kronke of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Consider, for a second, what you might honestly expect from a movie called The Mangler. Well, it doesn't even aim that high". Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer called it a "plodding and virtually plotless" film that should have been played for laughs. Stephen Hunter of The Baltimore Sun stated the film recycles common Stephen King themes, but the film's novelty makes it enjoyable for horror fans. The Mangler fared somewhat better with retrospective reviews from critics. Bloody Disgusting rated it 3/5 stars and wrote that the film "is not good by any objective standards, but it's a fun little gory time-killer with a possessed refrigerator and an evil laundry press. That can't be all bad". Jon Condit of Dread Central rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote: "The Mangler is a true test for the guilty pleasure connoisseur. Bad in every respect, there are definitely worse ways to blow two hours of your time (this film's sequel comes to mind); it's just a shame Hooper was implicated in it". Mike Long of DVD Talk rated it 0.5/5 stars and wrote: "There have been many bad, throw-away projects based on material from Stephen King, but The Mangler has to be one of the worst. The movie's laughable premise is only brought down by the inept filmmaking on display here". David Johnson of DVD Verdict wrote that the film "features a lot of gore, a solid, creepy atmosphere, some wonky special effects, all set against a really dumb premise". Film critic Scout Tafoya of RogerEbert.com included The Mangler in his video series "The Unloved", where he highlights films which received mixed to negative reviews yet he believes to have artistic value. Tafoya considers the film