Neither Charlton Heston nor Orson Welles appear in this Hong Kong crime thriller that possesses the same name as the film classic. Tony Leung Ka-Fai stars as a really scummy cop who uses an unusually slutty Rosamund Kwan to get to triad guy Michael Wong. Leung coerces her into going undercover, but Wong turns out to be an extraordinarily nice guy. This puts Kwan in an inenviable position - between a bad cop and a good triad, with romantic complications thrown in, to boot.

 A Touch of Evil was directed by Tony Au, who helmed the infinitely better Dream Lovers. This is more of a commerical cop thriller, but the polished cinematography and sync sound make it seem a cut above the rest. Unfortunately, the story itself is neither new nor particularly interesting. Tony Leung turns in fine work as the bad cop, and Kwan does a remarkably good job with her against-type role. As usual, Michael Wong is the weak link here. His acting is wooden, and he also switches between English and Cantonese constantly, thus driving audiences out of their minds. All in all, this is a decent effort, but other than strong performances, the film is forgettable. (Kozo 1995)

image courtesy of Ocean Shores Licensing, Ltd.