It is a testament to Welles' genius that he was able to turn a piece of pulp literature into such a disturbing, sophisticated and, above all, entertaining study of depravity.
Comment
04/07/08
Touch of Evil (1958)
94 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 51
Fresh: 48
Rotten:3
Average Rating: 8.5/10
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Orson Welles's TOUCH OF EVIL is nothing short of a masterpiece. Beginning with a three-minute-plus tracking crane shot, the film explodes onto the screen, literally--the marvelously expressive opening shot ends with a car blowing up,... [More]
Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia
Director: Orson Welles, Harry Keller
Reviews for Touch of Evil
Top Critic A sweaty thriller conundrum on character and corruption, justice and the law, worship and betrayal, it plays havoc with moral ambiguities.
06/24/06
Top Critic Welles' outlandish visual talent is on full display as he puts noir movie conventions through the wringer and creates one of the most terrifyingly seedy yet utterly compelling films ever made.
12/10/01
Top Critic
Top Critic Delightfully entertaining to watch, it is filled with interesting characters and it is playfully irreverent.
04/29/08
When druggies stash Leigh in a hotel room and throw a party, the movie threatens to turn into Reefer Madness, albeit with the visual panache of Citizen Kane.
04/17/08
One of Welles masterpieces (his first American film in years), this noir thriller of drugs and corruption served as reminder to Hollywood what a brilliant artist he was, using film as vibrant form in its own right, not as extension of drama or literature
05/06/07
...Welles' baroque border-town murder mystery is a wild masterpiece, a sleazy, grimy, jittery, and ultimately dazzling work of cinematic magic.
04/30/07
I first saw it when I was 14 and thought it was one of the worst pictures ever -- garish, oppressive, and appallingly overacted. Grown up, I'd go with those same adjectives, except now I think it's one of the best.
04/06/07
Where Mr. Welles soundly succeeds is in generating enough sinister electricity for three such yarns and in generally staging it like a wild, murky nightmare.
05/21/03
Top Critic Dark, sinister and not altogether comprehensible, this is nonetheless an intriguing study of the art of filmmaking.
05/14/03
...embodies everything that is so exhilarating and maddening about Welles. Both inspired and confused, Touch of Evil is the work of a master who cannot quite give life on screen to what he imagines in his head.
10/11/02
Latest News for Touch of Evil
April 07, 2008:
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With his classically chiseled looks and basso profundo speaking voice, Charlton Heston was an icon of old-school Hollywood. In remembrance of Heston, Rotten Tomatoes has... More...
February 28, 2006:
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Related Forums for Touch of Evil
Film review: A Touch of Evil with Excellence
by: Roz 7/31/02
by: Roz 7/31/02
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