This in one film that would have benefitted from a commentary track from Jerry Schatzberg and/or screenplay writer Joan Didion. The narrative is filled with ellipses, while the acting appears improvised. There is also no music sound track which also adds to the appearance of naturalism. Panic in Needle Park often looks like it was shot off the cuff, but I suspect that much of the spontaneous look of the film was well planned.

The film sheds no new light on drug addiction, nor does it make any kind of judgment on its characters whose lives are a series of bad choices informed by the overwhelming need for heroin. The film is probably of greater interest in seeing Pacino in his first major film role, as well as watching early appearances by Raul Julia and Paul Sorvino. Schatzberg appears to have been smitten by Kitty Winn as indicated by the many close ups of her face. One of the best things about Panic in Needle Park is simply watching the faces of a cast of primarily New York based actors who appear to have been filmed without make-up. What may be most amazing about Panic in Needle Park is to look back, knowing that this film came from a major studio. Even today, the so-called independents would be nervous about making a film as downbeat or as marginally experimental.