"The whole thing is a deadpan, blood-soaked lark, buoyed by uniformly terrific performances - I'll admit that knowing Cotten's role was intended for Peter Cushing makes it a lot harder to like what he's up to in the part - and bright, contagiously weird visuals, and one of the oddest soundtracks that any "horror" movie has ever received (mostly smoky jazz and swing recordings of pop standards - and anachronistic for 1925, to boot). It may even be the quintessential Vincent Price vehicle: it is, after all, a sustained exercise in being very smart about being a very dumb B-movie, and this, applied to acting, describes nearly all of Price's great roles (though some, like Witchfinder General and a few of the Roger Corman Poe movies, find him genuinely acting well)." - Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy