Critics often express the difficulty of valuing Atanes' cinematography and sometimes they even refrain from scoring it, since these are unusual films that escape the standard classification. Dave J. Wilson from Cinematic Shocks says regarding Maximum Shame “it exists outside of the cinematic norm not following its conventions (…) it is purely visual art rather than a real narrative a dreamlike mind-fuck of philosophical musings. It is not a question of whether it is good or not as it does not conform to cinematic conventions. Therefore, I will not be giving a rating for this review, as it is hard for me to judge it on such terms. Whether you like the film or not you will ultimately more likely all reach the same conclusion that it is at least a unique work.”[3]Film Threat, meanwhile, says that within Gallino, the Chicken System “is an entire universe of creativity, albeit one that may or may not reflect this plane of reality as we know it. I don't know that the traditional sense of how we react to film applies here. It's more of an art experience than a simple film (…) I don't know that it's for everyone (or anyone), but it's certainly unique.”[4]
In addition to his work as a screenwriter and playwright, Carlos Atanes has published several books and essays on cultural issues, cinema and Chaos magic.
Dunlop, Fiona, National Geographic - Les guides de voyage: Espagne, National Geographic France, France, 2007, pg 52. ISBN2845822138, ISBN978-2-84582-213-9
Crusells, Magi, Directores de cine en Cataluña de la A a la Z, Publicacions i Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona, 2008. ISBN978-84-475-3316-9
Sánchez-Conejero, Cristina, Novela y cine de ciencia ficción española contemporánea: Una reflexión sobre la humanidad (2009), Parte II, Entrevistas: Entrevista a Carlos Atanes, director (Lewiston, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2009. ISBN0-7734-5104-8, ISBN978-0-7734-5104-9)
Kramer, Seph; Lescroart, Justine; Barbero, Dan; Bernstein, Sanders; Charyk, Nick; Popkin, Meg; Bean, Kyle; Cain, Julia; Kendrick, Anna; Schwartz, Madeleine; and Connolly, Caitlin; Let's Go Barcelona, Let's Go Incorporated, USA, 2010, pg 50. ISBN1-59880-307-7, ISBN978-1-59880-307-5
Thompson, Nathaniel, DVD Delirium Volume 4: The International Guide to Weird and Wonderful Films on DVD & Blu-ray, FAB Press Ltd., UK, 2010. ISBN978-1-903254-62-2
Gómez Goyeneche, María Antonieta, Identidades trastocadas. Volumen 1: El recurso literario y artístico de las metamorfosis disyuntivas, Programa Editorial Universidad del Valle, Colombia, 2011. ISBN978-958-670-945-3, ISBN978-958-5164-40-6
Vellarino Albuera, Susana, Políticas de la representación (post)pornográfica: del Mainstream a la Queer-action, Universidad de Granada, Spain 2012. ISBN978-84-9028-430-8
E. B. Verrone, William, The Avant-Garde Feature Film: A Critical History, McFarland & Company Incorporated Publishers, USA, 2012. ISBN978-0-7864-5910-0
Tejeda, Carlos; J. Rodríguez, Hilario; y VV.AA., Cine XXI, directores y direcciones, Cátedra, Spain 2013. ISBN978-84-376-3149-3
La Rubia, Leopoldo, Kafka y el cine: la estética de lo kafkiano en el séptimo arte, Biblioteca Nueva S.L., 2013. ISBN978-84-9940-684-8
Kuzmanovic Jovanovic, Ana; Filipovic, Jelena; Stojanovic, Jasna; and Rajic, Jelena; Estudios hispánicos en el siglo XXI: Monografía en conmemoración del 40º aniversario de la creación del Departamento de Lengua Española y Literaturas Hispánicas de la Universidad de Belgrado, Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade, Serbia, 2014. ISBN978-86-6153-191-0
Chiavini, Roberto; Filippo Pizzo, Gian; and Tetro, Michele; Guida al cinema di fantascienza, Odoya srl, Italia, 2014. ISBN978-88-6288-236-1
Yareham, Bob, 700 English Language Movies made in Spain, Obrapropia, 2016. ISBN978-84-16717-11-8
Asociación Cultural Hilos Mágicos, Dirección de Arte para Teatro de Títeres: Ponencias y memorias 2016, IDARTES-Instituto Distrital de las Artes, Colombia, 2016, pg 35. ISBN978-958-99708-1-2
Cremonini, Laura; and VV.AA., Le Dittature del Futuro: Cinema di Fantascienza, Italia, 2017.
Otto Horch, Hans; Liska, Vivian; Maksymiak, Malgorzata; and Vogt Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Stefan; Wegweiser und Grenzgänger: Studien zur deutsch-jüdischen Kultur- und Literaturgeschichte, Böhlau Verlag GmbH & Co KG Wien, Austria, 2018. ISBN9783205206422, ISBN9783205201038
Yareham, Bob, Silver Screen Films: 800 English Language Films, Obrapropia, 2018. ISBN978-84-17614-10-2
Cervera Ral, Enric, Com... Seqüències (Un relat basat en fets reals), Fundación AISGE, Spain, 2018. ISBN978-84-09-01422-4
Pezzini, Franco, Le nozze alchemiche di Aleister Crowley. Itinerari letterari con la grande bestia, Odoya srl, Italia, 2020. ISBN8862886373, ISBN978-8862886376
Sernagiotto, Camilla, La maledizione del Dakota: Rosemary's Baby, Cielo Drive, John Lennon e altri fatti oscuri, Arcana Edizioni, Italia, 2022. ISBN8892771248, ISBN978-8892771246
Sabry, Fouad, Hive Mind: Fundamentals and Applications, One Billion Knowledgeable, United Arab Emirates, 2022. ISBN6610000473229 Parameter error in ((ISBN)): invalid prefix