Touch of Evil

Universal Pictures | Release Date: February 1, 1958

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

99	METASCORE Universal acclaim based on 24 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

100

The IndependentGeoffrey Macnab

It is typical of Orson Welles that he takes a B-movie thriller set on the Mexican border and gives it a Shakespearian grandeur. Read full review

100

The IndependentXan Brooks

Amazingly, Welles gets away with it. Citizen Kane may be the more weighty, rounded work, but Touch of Evil is a heap more fun. Read full review

100

Roger Ebert

The film has always been a favorite of those who enjoy visual and dramatic flamboyance. Read full review

100

The GuardianPeter Bradshaw

Brilliant. Read full review

100

Joshua Rothkopf

A masterclass in tension, visual panache and B-movie excess. Read full review

100

EmpireAngie Errigo

Astonishing cinematography and brilliantly played, this certainly one of the most influential crime movies in history. Read full review

100

Martyn Conterio

Touch of Evil proceeds with one of the most celebrated long-takes in screen history. The sequence is a marvel of technical virtuosity and staged action. From the very start, Orson Welles’s grubby and sweaty noir classic has us in its grip with a gloriously devised piece of showmanship emblematic of the director’s audaciously talented spirit. Read full review

100

Dave Kehr

Eternal damnation to the wretch at Universal who printed the opening titles over the most brilliant establishing shot in film history—a shot that establishes not only place and main characters in its continuous movement over several city blocks, but also the film's theme (crossing boundaries), spatial metaphors, and peculiar bolero rhythm. Read full review

100

Cindy White

Welles manages to wring engaging performances out of all of his actors, but what's most impressive about the film is the way in which the director makes use of every corner of the screen with deliberate precision. Read full review

100

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

This nightmarish descent into dark entertainment has so much weirdness going on it's amazing. Read full review

100

Kenneth Turan

No amount of repeated viewings can dull the edge of its sinister ambience or soften the visual excitement Welles brought to this quintessentially cinematic film. [Director's Cut] Read full review

100

Lisa Schwarzbaum

A film noir great... Just to see and hear the extraordinary 3 minute and 20 second opening sequence — a fluid tour de force tracking shot — without impediment of opening credits and street-sound-masking movie score is accomplishment enough. Read full review

100

Michael Wilmington

Still seems close to the pinnacle of film noir. [Director's Cut] Read full review

100

Fred Camper

As masterful as Welles's filming is, what makes Touch of Evil a staggering masterpiece is the global quality of his style, which causes every image to echo almost every other in the film. Read full review

100

Bob Graham

Welles goes for broke in his performance and direction, and the only trick he misses is a tracking shot around his own bulging waistline. [Director's Cut] Read full review

100

Jay Carr

The greatest B-movie ever made. [Director's Cut; 18 Sept 1998, p.D5]

100

John Hartl

An all-star A-movie with large themes, brilliant technique, and a dark and daring performance by its star-writer-director that remains one of his two or three best. [Director's Cut; 18 Sept 1998, p.H1]

100

Andy Seiler

This re-edited version turns one of Orson Welles' most memorable yet flawed films into a masterpiece. [Director's Cut; 18 Sept 1998, p.11E]

100

Steven Rea

What Touch of Evil is really about, though, is filmmaking: evoking a mood of sweaty despair, of sour, sinister doom, using the vocabulary of a crime picture and a group of remarkable talents, in front of and behind the camera. [Director's Cut; 25 Sept 1998, p.04]

Howard Thompson

Mr. Welles' is an obvious but brilliant bag of tricks. Using a superlative camera (manned by Russell Metty) like a black-snake whip, he lashes the action right into the spectator's eye. [22 May 1958, p.25] Read full review

Pauline Kael

What it really has to do with is love of the film medium, and if Welles can't resist the candy of shadows and angels and baroque decor, he turns it into stronger fare than most directors' solemn meat and potatoes. It's terrific entertainment.

Marc Savlov

The great director's masterpiece of bad juju. [Director's Cut] Read full review

Peter Stack

Touch of Evil is a savvy starter because Welles' astonishing cinematic invention and his persuasive presence as star are prime noir at tractions. The look, a deftly arranged climate of odd shadows and angles, neon lighting and flawlessly choreographed action scenes, keeps interest piqued through a contrived plot and mannered acting. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Touch of Evil smacks of brilliance but ultimately flounders in it. Read full review