Review of Touch of Evil (1958) by Robert W — 13 Dec 2009

It should be noted that the following review pertains to the 1998 re-edit of Touch of Evil, which tries to follow Orson's original vision for the film. Since he died before this re-edit, there is no definitive 'director's cut' of the film.

Touch of Evil is a stylish and dark film with some very memorable camera and cinematography work. The complex inter-twining of stories works very well in this version of the film, and the strong performances by all three leads really help this fine balance work. Janet Leigh is as strong as ever, Orson Welles...Well, he's Orson-freakin' Welles, and Charlton Heston is surprisingly strong as a Mexican. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't even attempt an accent, but he plays a very relate-able character who is pushed to his limits in the end, and besides, it's a border town, it's very possible that a Mexican living in a border town wouldn't have an accent. I digress. Due to the way the film was constructed after the fact, it feels a little too mod-podged together to truly be a better film than Citizen Kane as so many Orson Welles fans like to claim. It's still a fantastic artistic achievement however, and it broke new ground in the filmmaking world (3-minute tracking shot anyone?) and really deserves a watch from any Welles fans (or film noir fans.) Orson's signature deep focus is present throughout Touch of Evil, as is his brilliance and artistic energy. It's hard to explain exactly what I mean by that, but Orson has a way of making what should be a fairly average scene fresh and exciting. Watch this film, I think you'll know what I mean when you see Vargas and Menzies simply driving down a road reciting dialogue along the lines of "you might get caught if you help me" yet somehow, the scene is enthralling. By any measure, Touch of Evil is indeed another masterwork from one of the best directors of all time (if not the best) and is as dark and moody as it is brilliant and entertaining.