"kalifornia" received generally mixed reviews. it holds a 58% rating on rotten tomatoes and an average score of 6.16/10, sampled from 31 reviews. on metacritic, the film has a score of 49 out of 100, determined from 17 critics' reviews, signifying "mixed or average reviews." film scholar robert cettl noted in his book "serial killer cinema" that, upon its release, ""kalifornia" was both praised as an insightful demystification of the serial killer, and vilified as a glorification of nihilistic violence."