feelsalike.comSign in
Touch of Evil poster

Movies that feel likeTouch of Evil (1958)

A border-town bombing draws Mexican investigator Miguel Vargas into a corruption-ridden police investigation led by crooked captain Hank Quinlan, setting off a deadly struggle over power, justice, and truth.

If you loved Touch of Evil, the closest films we have are The Stranger (1946), The Lady from Shanghai (1947) and Odd Man Out (1947). All three share Touch of Evil's gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Blast of Silence (1961).

🍅 96% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Orson Wellesgrittytensecontemplativeatmospheric
8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Criterion Channel

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Stream it:Prime Video ↗
See it on the Mood Map

When is Touch of Evil streaming? →

If Touch of Evil hit the spot, these will too

The Stranger poster
The Stranger
1946 · dir. Orson Welles
🍅 97%★ 7.3thriller · crimePrime VideoStarz

Orson Welles working the same nerve twice

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than Touch of Evil does

An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi, who may be hiding out in a small town in the guise of a distinguished professor engaged to the Supreme Court Justice’s daughter.

The Lady from Shanghai poster
The Lady from Shanghai
1947 · dir. Orson Welles
🍅 86%★ 7.5mystery · crime · thriller

The same hand behind both of them: Orson Welles

The difference: Sits closer to mystery than Touch of Evil does

A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.

Odd Man Out poster
Odd Man Out
1947 · dir. Carol Reed
🍅 100%★ 7.6crime · drama · thrillerMax

Two things both keep coming back to: film noir and black and white

Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.

Blast of Silence poster
Blast of Silence
1961 · dir. Allen Baron
🍅 83%★ 7.4crime · drama · thriller

One thread runs through both: film noir

A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past and a fat gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.

The Night of the Hunter poster
The Night of the Hunter
1955 · dir. Charles Laughton
🍅 93%★ 7.9crime · drama · thriller

Gritty and tense in the same breath

In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.

Killer's Kiss poster
Killer's Kiss
1955 · dir. Stanley Kubrick
🍅 83%★ 6.5thriller · crime · dramaPrime Video

Both land stillness and atmosphere at once

Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.

Shoot the Piano Player poster
Shoot the Piano Player
1960 · dir. François Truffaut
🍅 90%★ 7.4drama · thriller · crimeMax

Both are built on the same subject: black and white

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.

Key Largo poster
Key Largo
1948 · dir. John Huston
🍅 97%★ 7.7crime · thriller

Common ground in both: hotel and gangster

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.

The Long Good Friday poster
The Long Good Friday
1980 · dir. John Mackenzie
🍅 97%★ 7.5crime · thriller · dramaMax

The same preoccupation in both: car bomb

The difference: 22 years apart, and the 1980s show

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.

Out of the Past poster
Out of the Past
1947 · dir. Jacques Tourneur
🍅 87%★ 7.9crime · thriller

Common ground: gangster

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.

Le Doulos poster
Le Doulos
1962 · dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
🍅 96%★ 7.7drama · thriller · crime

Crime built on grit, twice over

Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?

Le Samouraï poster
Le Samouraï
1967 · dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
🍅 92%★ 8crime · thriller · dramaPrime VideoMax

Tense thriller, and it commits to that

After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts, finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.

In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Touch of Evil’s defining feeling.