Metacritic reviews

This is a weird, uneven, generally intriguing thriller about a young man whose fantasy life is totally controlled by images from movies.

The film aspires to hommage, it's true, but its references are altogether too obvious. That said, there's a Psycho bathroom pastiche that's almost worth the price of a ticket all by itself; and no collector of movie mush will want to miss it for its good bits, which are more than a few.

Boasting an inventive concept, with a nicely nuanced performance from Breaking Away's Christopher, Fade To Black is a creepy little film that, perhaps, doesn't go quite far enough.

The trouble with Fade to Black is that it's supposed to be a thriller. It's much more amusing than it is scary, although the killings are gory enough to be borderline vile. [17 Oct 1980, p.C5]

Fade to Black washes out by relying too heavily on assocations from older films. The excerpts from old movies are far more vivid and evocative than the host attraction. [12 Nov 1980, p.B7]