Touch of Evil

Name: Touch of Evil
Duration: 1 h 35 min

1hr 35m

1hr 35m
4.2/5 (17.9K)
87%
99

A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in a Mexican border town. More Details »

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Trailer 1 (02:09)

Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Orson Welles

Producer:

Albert Zugsmith

Writer:

Whit Masterson, Franklin Coen, Paul Monash

Release Date:

Feb 1, 1958

Runtime:

1hr 35m

Synopsis

A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in a Mexican border town.

Cast

Charlton Heston
Janet Leigh
Orson Welles
Joseph Calleia
Akim Tamiroff
Joanna Moore
Ray Collins
Dennis Weaver
Valentin de Vargas
Mort Mills

Letterboxd User Reviews

4.2

RATINGS 748 FANS

4.2

Sep 27, 2019

why didn't anyone ever tell janet leigh to stay away from motels?

1.8K Likes

Roberto_

Jun 8, 2017

"A policeman's job is only easy in a police state." An incredible back-and-forth between seedy, pulpy B-noir good cop-bad cop philosophical clash/conspiracy thriller material and one of the all-time genius stylists who through sheer technical mastery and baroque…

1.0K Likes

Josh Lewis

Apr 9, 2016

Touch of Evil might be the Citizen Kane of Orson Welles filmography.

910 Likes

Wood
Dec 16, 2019

Folks... this is what a movie looks like when it's firing on all cylinders. It's a masterstroke that in the last minute of the movie, we find out that the Mexican kid who the corrupt cop Quinlan (Welles) framed... confessed to the crime! That's right: at the end of a…

736 Likes

Will Sloan

Part of Noir-November “He was some kind of a man. What does it matter what you say about people?” The end justifies the means. That was his mantra. Shortcuts, grandstanding, rule-bending, hubristic excess and excessive hubris—all was fair game, so long as the final…

700 Likes

Aaron

Dec 8, 2021

Welles constantly sucks on a cigar like it's a lollipop in this, and every time he takes it out of his mouth it's visibly glistening. Unbelievably gross. 4.5 stars

454 Likes

brendan o'hare
Jan 5, 2026

Insanee cast. Orson wells is so sleazy scary sicko in this, also omg why was I so unsettled by a full-browed Marlene Dietrich?? I literally stop functioning normally when she’s on screen, whatta face!

370 Likes

Iman Vellani

Feb 8, 2014

Ben-Hur, Citizen Kane, and Norman Bates's shower-buddy in the middle of a murder-mystery in this Orson Welles timeless classic. Border-patrol-agents. A big fuckin' kaboom. A pretty baby. A baddie who's seen way too many gangsta movies. An attempted acid-attack. A piano that…

355 Likes

Todd Gaines

Oct 7, 2025

Orson Welles’s final feature film on Hollywood soil manifests itself as an exercise in both technical and spiritual transcendence, in which American cinematic machinery becomes the instrument for the expansion of a genius. Never again would his inventiveness be so opulent,…

339 Likes

noen

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Queue Community Reviews

87%

Community 631

❤️ LOVE

35%

👍 LIKE

52%

😐 MEH

12%

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Top Reviews

hanne is "meh" on

Touch of Evil

rating: 🧨🧨 janet leigh really has to stop going to sketchy motels; kind of a flop husband if we’re being honest; sort of a waste of marlene dietrich

😭 1 11M

Ben Lecker liked

Touch of Evil

This was the first of the films watched for my film class and I really enjoyed it. The directing was very unique, especially for the time, using extremely cool shots such as the one shot at the beginning. I’m not a massive fan of acting from this time but I really enjoyed Orson Welles performance…

1Y

Jacob Hall is "meh" on

Touch of Evil

I'll be the first to say it idgaf, Orson Welles movies are a snoozefest. This was a movie of a bunch of people aimlessly following each other doing absolutely nothing. No real intense moments, just waiting for it to be over. I can see why the studio tried to change it on him

2Y
Alexa loved

Touch of Evil

Damn good movie. A perfect noir combination of thrilling and weird, with excellent performances. You barely notice Charlton Heston in brown face. Also, I will always remember the girl in film class who gasped in horror the first time Orson Welles appears in this movie.

2Y

Platypus Lord liked

Touch of Evil

Really solid noir with plenty of suspense and themes of corruption & truth VS appearances. Has some memorable shots and great cinematography/lighting. The studies of Quinlan and Vargas and how someone's renown does not always match their actions really resonated.

1Y

James New liked

Touch of Evil

One of my favourite opening shots ever. The camera work is second to none. Great performances and Orson Welles’ direction is great. The murky and mysterious vibe works well. Noirs aren’t 100% my thing aside from Casablanca but this is a very good one

1Y
Nothuman liked

Touch of Evil

Some cool innovative technical aspects and some fun tense moments, but story was a bit all over the and not really good performances besides Welles, but I appreciate the historical significance and interesting from that angle

10M

Mickerdoo liked

Touch of Evil

Decent dirty cop crime thriller. Poor Mrs. Vargas. Take that woman home. Welles was a bad dude. Didn’t even really gain much from framing.

11M

Garrison is "meh" on

Touch of Evil

Good, interesting shots and cuts but worth the hype?

1Y