In his December 1978 listing of “The 25 Most Memorable Cult Films,” Andrew Sarris placed Wicked Woman in his personal pantheon, noting: “My own all-time schlock favorite, particularly when pig-like Percy Helton is running his slobbering lips up the arm of wonderfully lurid Beverly Michaels.” Quite forgotten today, Wicked Woman is a tawdry, atmospheric melodrama dealing with an adulterous triangle. The New York Times observed in 1954: “the hard bitten dialogue, forthright camerawork and soiled authenticity of the backgrounds could hardly be improved.... As a predatory, platinum blonde with a past, Beverly Michaels lands in town and blandly seduces a strapping bar owner, Mr. Egan, who has hired her under the amiable nose of his alcoholic spouse. The lovers then hatch a plan to swindle the lady and flee to Mexico.... there is considerable suspense... and racing against time. The second-rate neighborhood bar, where about half of the events occur, is not only lifelike but alive. Messrs. Greene and Rouse, in addition, have supplied a captivatingly grubby portrait of life in a fifth-rate boarding house....”