Critical Reception
Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "The Hearse qualifies as this summer's garage sale of horror movies. It contains all the best clichés from recent, more successful horror movies (especially Amityville and even The Changeling, which came out last April and starred Van Devere, her husband George C. Scott and, of course, the obligatory self-banging doors and self-playing musical instruments."
Janet Maslin of The New York Times said, "The Hearse was directed by George Bowers, and shot either in a very stylized fashion or without benefit of a light meter - many of the film's outdoor scenes feature brilliant blue skies and actors with dim, shadowy faces. As far as the horror goes, Mr. Bowers makes his film moderately scary and pretty unpleasant, too. No one gets a hatchet in the forehead, though, the way one of the actors does in Friday the 13th. Isn't that nice to know?"
J.C. Maçek III of WorldsGreatestCritic.com wrote, "Many horror fans might call it "boring", but the right people will watch The Hearse and appreciate it for the surprises, the fun and...Trish Van Devere in her running shorts. Yeah, it could use an overhaul and yeah, the occasional moments let the air out of The Hearse's tires. For those who thought that lame-ass remakes like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th were quality pictures or thought that anything from Slob Zombie constitutes the future of Horror, The Hearse is not for you."
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