Thomas M. Sipos of Hollywood Investigator wrote that it is a slasher film but not quite a horror film. And of the film's protagonist, wrote "He's psychotic, but he's also vulnerable, literate, and identifiable. He has more common with the suspense psychos of Psycho and Frenzy than with the superhuman psychos of Halloween and its progeny." Dread Central wrote that "Henry Thomas yet again proves to be one of those hidden gems", and that "Red Velvet is deranged and inspired in equal measures, sometimes both at the same time."