"As scripted, [the murder and cannibalism] scenes might have played for camp or comic effect, but Liebesman hews close to the 2003 pic's bile-tinged snuff-film aesthetic. His approach falls somewhere between the overwrought sadism of the "Saw" series and the giddy gore-for-gore's-sake energy of "The Devil's Rejects," sharing those films' twisted notion that today's [audiences] are willing to embrace such homicidal maniacs as heroes... Purists who wondered what had become of the family dinner scene (left out of the remake) should be pleased to find an even creepier version recreated here. Auds would be well advised not to attempt "Beginning" on a full stomach." - Peter Debruge, Variety