Critical response On
Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 83%, based on reviews from 35 critics. The site's critical consensus reads: "The now obscure pop culture references and spoofed commercials add to
Kentucky Fried Movies anarchic, anything-goes spirit and wit." On
Metacritic it has a score of 61% based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". At the time,
Variety described the film as having "excellent production values and some genuine wit" but also noted that the film was juvenile and tasteless.
Lawrence Van Gelder of
The New York Times wrote, "Lots of people will probably like
The Kentucky Fried Movie, just as they like
Kentucky Fried Chicken and
McDonald's hamburgers. But popularity is still no reason for deifying mediocrity."
Gene Siskel of the
Chicago Tribune gave the film two stars out of four and wrote that the best moments were "one-joke gags; its writers can't sustain their humor for longer pieces. So, what you're left with is a half-dozen decent gags, one overlong karate flick, and a few shots of bare breasts thrown in to titillate teenage boys." Gary Arnold of
The Washington Post called it "a diverting hit-and-miss satirical anthology."
Kevin Thomas of the
Los Angeles Times wrote, "As is inevitable in such undertakings there are some sophomoric moments, but on the whole
Kentucky Fried Movie is, amazingly enough, almost continually funny in its ribald way." Writing three decades later in 2008, Ian Nathan of
Empire magazine calls the film "occasionally funny"... "in a scattershot and puerile way", and he concludes the film is "smart and satirical, but very dated". J. C. Maçek III of
PopMatters wrote, "
The Kentucky Fried Movie is, however, profane, experimental, violent, silly, hilarious, and occasionally quite sexually explicit (all of which surely helped its success over the years)." The film ranks number 87 on
Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies list. == Legacy ==