"Backhanded compliments" refers to comments that appear to be positive, but actually contain a hidden insult or criticism. They may seem like praise, but during closer examination, they carry a negative undertone. Full definition
This is not simply a good horror film, the sort of backhanded compliment given by those who have no real interest in those sorts of films. (alphaprimitive.com)
That's about as backhanded a compliment as we can give, true. (crankycritic.com)
Jonathon Rosenbaum paid the legendary megaton bomb Sextette the ultimate backhanded compliment when he called it «the most chivalrous film ever made,» citing its willful obliviousness to the incongruous spectacle of the world's men falling over themselves to sleep with a then - octogenarian Mae West. (slantmagazine.com)