Movies Like Touch of Evil (1958)

Touch of Evil is a 1958 crime, thriller film from Orson Welles with a MovieMagicScore of 7.8/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Big Heat and Key Largo.

Crime Thriller

The Big Heat

1953

After the suspicious suicide of a fellow cop, tough homicide detective Dave Bannion takes the law into his own hands when he sets out to smash a vicious crime syndicate.

7.7

MagicScore

Key Largo

1948

A hurricane swells outside, but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There, sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco holes up - and holds at gunpoint hotel owner James Temple, his widowed daughter-in-law Nora, and ex-GI Frank McCloud.

7.5

MagicScore

Trade

2007

A Texas cop, whose own daughter might have been forced into sexual slavery, joins forces with a Mexican youth to find the boy's sister, who was abducted and forced into prostitution. Meanwhile, a Polish woman who was promised a better life in America also becomes a victim.

7.0

MagicScore

The Killing

1956

Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

7.6

MagicScore

Out of the Past

1947

The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and forces him to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.

7.6

MagicScore

The Third Man

1949

In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Major Calloway, and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna.

7.9

MagicScore

Lord of War

2005

Yuri Orlov is a globetrotting arms dealer and, through some of the deadliest war zones, he struggles to stay one step ahead of a relentless Interpol agent, his business rivals and even some of his customers who include many of the world's most notorious dictators. Finally, he must also face his own conscience.

7.3

MagicScore

Scarface

1932

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

7.4

MagicScore

Laura

1944

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.

7.6

MagicScore

#10

The Long Good Friday

1980

In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion.

7.1

MagicScore

#11

Begum Jaan

2017

On the eve of Independence, the chairman of the Border Commission, Sir Cyril Radcliffe decides to divide India and Pakistan into equitable halves. What the administration doesn’t account for is the line running through the middle of Begum Jaan’s brothel situated plonk on the border; with one half falling in India and the other in Pakistan.

5.8

MagicScore

#12

Where Danger Lives

1950

A young doctor falls in love with a disturbed young woman and apparently becomes involved in the death of her husband. They head for Mexico trying to outrun the law.

6.4

MagicScore

#13

The Sucker

1965

In this Franco-Italian gangster parody, a shopkeeper on his way to an Italian holiday suffers a crash that totals his car. The culprit can only compensate his ruined trip by driving an American friend's car from Naples to Bordeaux, but as it happens to be filled with such contraband as stolen money, jewelry and drugs, the involuntary and unwitting companions in crime soon attract all but recreational attention from the "milieu".

7.4

MagicScore

#14

Niagara

1953

Rose Loomis and her older, gloomier husband, George, are vacationing at a cabin in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The couple befriend Polly and Ray Cutler, who are honeymooning in the area. Polly begins to suspect that something is amiss between Rose and George, and her suspicions grow when she sees Rose in the arms of another man. While Ray initially thinks Polly is overreacting, things between George and Rose soon take a shockingly dark turn.

6.8

MagicScore

#15

Suspicion

1941

A sheltered heiress falls for a charming playboy and elopes with him, but soon discovers his gambling vice and mounting debts. As his lies deepen and those around them meet mysterious ends, she begins to suspect that her husband’s affection may conceal a deadly motive—and that she could be his next victim.

7.1

MagicScore

#16

Mardaani

2014

A Mumbai police officer's search for a missing teenage girl leads her to the depraved world of child trafficking. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game between the officer and a ruthless mafia kingpin.

6.6

MagicScore

#17

Secret Beyond the Door

1947

After a whirlwind romance in Mexico, a beautiful heiress marries a man she barely knows with hardly a second thought. She finds his New York home full of his strange relations, and macabre rooms that are replicas of famous murder sites. One locked room contains the secret to her husband's obsession, and the truth about what happened to his first wife.

6.5

MagicScore

#18

Dangerous Crossing

1953

A honeymoon aboard an ocean liner is cut short when the bride finds herself suddenly alone, and unable to convince anyone of her husband’s existence.

6.2

MagicScore

#19

Blonde Ice

1948

A golddigging femme fatale leaves a trail of men behind her, rich and poor, alive and dead.

5.7

MagicScore

#20

Kill Me If You Dare

2019

Demet and Okan, a married couple, find that the spark in their relationship has disappeared. But life gives them another chance when Okan buys a lottery ticket and happens to win the lottery.

4.9

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Touch of Evil?

The top films similar to Touch of Evil by MovieMagicScore are The Big Heat (7.7), Key Largo (7.5), Trade (7.0). Each shares crime/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Touch of Evil worth watching?

Touch of Evil holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.8/10 from 1,526 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Touch of Evil?

Touch of Evil (1958) is a crime, thriller film directed by Orson Welles, starring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles.

Where can I find more recommendations like Touch of Evil?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more crime recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like The Big Heat Movies like Key Largo Movies like Trade Movies like The Killing Movies like Out of the Past Movies like The Third Man

About movies like Touch of Evil

This ranked list pairs Touch of Evil (1958), a crime and thriller film from Orson Welles, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Charlton Heston take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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