Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Hectic penny dreadful, without subtlety or surprise. Clive Donner's direction has intermittent punch, but the jaded format of these Edgar Wallace quickies is beginning to defeat any attempt at even the simplest kind of style."[4]
Kine Weekly wrote: "The picture comes in the thick ear rather than the whodunnit category, yet has a twist, in-the-nick-of-time climax. John Bentley adopts a very professional air as Wills, Patrick Allen makes a menacing Pollard, Jacqueline Ellis is an intelligent and comely Elsa, and Eric Young and Arnold Lee register in Oriental roles. There is little romance and less comedy, but a hell-for-leather approach gives the shenanigans edge."[5]
Leslie Halliwell wrote: "Very tolerable minor thriller in the Edgar Wallace series: short, sharp and snappy."[6]
Robert Murphy wrote: "Clive Donner's Marriage of Convenience and The Sinister Man are very stylish, and clearly marked him out for higher things."[7]
MemorableTV.com described the film as "definitely one of the great Edgar Wallace entries with a fab cast that includes a pre-Steptoe Wilfred Brambell, Patrick Allen, William Gaunt and Burt Kwouk. John Bentley who took the lead as Superintendent Willis was a popular actor in the late fifties and early sixties but is all but forgotten these days."[8]
Classic Movie Ramblings wrote "The Sinister Man isn't exactly a good movie but it has plenty of energy and a few intriguingly odd moments. I found it to be strangely appealing."[9]
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