in responses to "the night porter", cavani was both celebrated for her courage in dealing with the theme of sexual transgression and, simultaneously, castigated for the controversial manner in which she presented that transgression: within the context of a nazi holocaust narrative. the film has been accused of mere sensationalism. critic roger ebert of "the chicago sun-times" thought the main roles were well-performed, but nonetheless gave the film 1 star out of a possible 4, and called "the night porter" "as nasty as it is lubricious, a despicable attempt to titillate us by exploiting memories of persecution and suffering", while adding he did not "object per se to the movie's subject matter." leonard maltin's 2015 "movie guide" called it a "sleazy, bizarre drama", awarding it two out of four stars. in "the new york times", nora sayre praised the performances of bogarde and rampling, and the "dark, rich tones" of the cinematography, but began her review by writing "if you don't love pain, you won't find "the night porter" erotic—and by now, even painbuffs may be satiated with nazi decadence." vincent canby, another prominent critic for "the new york times", called it "romantic pornography" and "a piece of junk".