Don Johnson oozes the charisma even when he's brought low, but the stand out of the film is Virginia Madsen.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 16, 2023

A filmic terror... so bad it's laughable. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Nov 16, 2022

Dennis Hopper's The Hot Spot, a scorching cinematic slice of film noir, is the type of movie that demands to be shown only in well air-conditioned cineplexes.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 17, 2021

Doesn't always work, and is far too long, but gets by on style.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 9, 2021

Madsen owns the film, delivering a wacky, daring, off-the-cliff leap of a femme fatale performance.

Full Review | Original Score: B | May 28, 2021

Nothing of much substance (other than plenty of sex and nudity) occurs during the first half, turning this erotic semi-thriller into a rather mundane affair.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Sep 14, 2020

...an audaciously dirty gem directed by Dennis Hopper. Torrid and tawdry, The Hot Spot stars a quietly smouldering Don Johnson...

Full Review | Oct 15, 2019

The Hot Spot seeps with atmosphere, unfolds at a deceptively relaxed pace, steadily accumulates noirish grit, then dizzily plunges into a Lynch-like plumbing of the dark passions and nasty secrets at the heart of Main Street, USA.

Full Review | Feb 1, 2014

It's a nifty, nasty, sexy, and sometimes very funny little paperback of a movie that delivers its genre thrills with a light touch and an agreeable sense of its own lurid ridiculousness.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 12, 2013

The film might have been a camp hoot if it weren't for the fact that Hopper still believes in all this stuff - he likes his women molten, duplicitous, and in kinky high heels.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Sep 7, 2011

This neo-noir film directed by Dennis Hopper is like a trashy pulp novel that you might read and enjoy at the beach.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 16, 2010

Lazily made neo-noir that sinks its teeth into the genre's cliches with limited success.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Nov 11, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 6, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 2, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 10, 2005

A pretty sexy and effective noir in broad daylight.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 24, 2004

For all its genre touches, ''The Hot Spot'' is best remembered for its little eccentricities.

Full Review | Aug 30, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 4, 2003

The Hot Spot is an incredibly hit-and-miss affair, with the various positive elements in the film hurt by a seriously overlong running time.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 25, 2003

While much of the fun is in watching the serpentine plot unwind, Hopper also provides incidental pleasure through his acute dissection of small-town life.

Full Review | May 24, 2003