When I was kid, my dad would use the New York Times TV listings to pick movies for us to watch. Most movies came with a pithy, one-liner review and a star rating. One of them - I can’t remember which - always had the review “As entertaining as a blowtorch.”
I don’t know if we ever watched the movie, but we always debated whether the usually stodgy New York Times meant that in a good or bad way.
As a bonus, does anyone know which movie this referred to?
I would say it’s intended to be a negative review, presumably because the writer was imagining watching a blowtotch flame for a couple of hours, but as others have said, personally I think blowtorches can be very entertaining! So the writer missed the mark with this one.
Personally, I don’t think burned flesh smells all that bad. You get used to it after awhile, especially if you’re conditioned early, like in kindergarden.