99
Metascore
24 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe film has always been a favorite of those who enjoy visual and dramatic flamboyance.
- 100The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawBrilliant.
- 100Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfA masterclass in tension, visual panache and B-movie excess.
- 100EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoAstonishing cinematography and brilliantly played, this certainly one of the most influential crime movies in history.
- 100Touch 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.
- 100Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrEternal 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.
- 100IGNIGNWelles 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.
- 100TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThis nightmarish descent into dark entertainment has so much weirdness going on it's amazing.
- 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]