Customer Reviews

Touching Evil: Complete Collection

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

'TOUCHING EVIL' is a complex series of serial crimes, 8 episodes, each about 100 minutes of compelling, seriously evil crime. From the opening scenes, it grabs and you can't let go. Even after the end credits roll. IT IS NOT for everyone, especially NOT for children. The box warning includes 'violence, nudity, and disturbing images.' Understatements! You may find yourself gasping, looking away, wincing, or worse.
If you are still reading this review, also know you will likely NOT be able to turn off the DVD. You get drawn into the crime serial offender's mind and motivation, wanting to find the reason as much as the special police force doing the investigating. Not exactly entertaining, not always pleasant, not light, not always horror; BUT emotional, graphic, gripping, hypnotic, disgusting crime, in a well-done mystery format.

The primary cast, beginning with DI Creegan (Robson Green) and DI Taylor (Nicola Walker) make the show seem real, too real, and a world you'll never want to touch. Commander Enwright (Michael Feast) & DC Rivers (Shaun Dingwall), also well played roles, are joined by guest stars. These 4 make a detective team of OSC (Organized & Serial Crime) unit. They're called in when the crimes become exceptionally ghastly, appalling, and an obvious serial crime with the perpetrator at large. The evil-doer must be caught to end the reign of travesty. The stories are extremely well written with multiple plots and even carry over into a later episode, or at least the effects of the investigation on the cops and victims.

So why can such debauchery be worthy of a 5-star review? No matter how weird, how creepy, how sinister the crimes get, you simply can't turn it off, and you are driven to watch the entire 8 episodes of this 3-series complete collection. Take this review as a warning or a recommendation. It all depends on how much your stomach, heart, and emotion can take. All that will be tested.

We had a choice between CC and SDH SUBTITLES. Original British airing was in 1997-99, then PBS. An Americanization of the series appeared in 2004, but why settle for redo when this original, complete footage is now available? For a series with this much tumultuous victimization, I only report for your own awareness and discernment--not to entice. 'TOUCHING EVIL' is shocking serial crime presented boldly with a great cast & writers.

Some details to help you decide if you can take it:
1 Triple child abductions appear to be a suspect's repeat serial crime. Is it a criminal game by the suspect? Will facts from the old serial deaths save CURRENTLY missing youth? An informant sees facts in the clouds. Creegan sees things in his head. Not who--but when will the crime go from abduction to murder?

2 Three suspicious hospital deaths were patients under Dr. Walker who favors euthanasia. The investigation causes Creegan to recall his out-of-body death experience and resuscitation. The perpetrator must have had the same experience.

3 A series of horse killings spread over the world having a connection, and leading to England. Who is behind it and why? Will it continue? How is a web game, 'Amathus', involved?

4 A reporter, Laney, gets an email message within 48 hrs of a murder. OSC tracks the suspect who retains photos & scalps of victims as trophies. The culprit is jailed but deaths continue. Who will stop it? Frontal male nudity.

5 Bosnia War experiences cause an ex-soldier horror memories. An executed body dumped at its own doorstep begins the search for the serial killer leaving a trail of washed victims with punctured brains. Blood!

6 Robbery is the crime but he loot being taken is children. Britain has an obvious gathering of international child abductors and it's up to OSC to discover why. It's very clear when kids begin disappearing. One capture just confuses the case.

7 A convicted wife killer is released after a successful appeal & reversal of confession. Creegan beats the team to the northern town of the murder only to have a 3rd local murder of a woman. Only one common link--the heart removed & left beside the body in a trash bag. What was the killer's link? Then death 4. Very disturbing, bloody bodies shown.

8 Arson puts this investigation in the lap of OSC because it was humans being burned. "Fire as a weapon of death is rare." OSC questions a prisoner who killed with fire for info to lead them to this current serial killer. Of course the burned body count grows. Graphic victim scenes.

If you purchase, remember I warned you.
If you politely pass, thanks for remembering I warned you.
Yet, amazingly, I MUST rate this CRIME/MYSTERY/SERIES 5 stars.

Touching Evil: The Complete Collection gathers the award-winning British drama following the Organized and Serial Crime unit. As Detective Inspector Dave Creegan recuperates from a gunshot wound to the head, his personal life is in tatters, but he retains genius-level insight into the workings of the criminal mind. He becomes a crucial member of a highly skilled team of detectives that dedicate themselves to tracking and stopping the deadliest serial killers, psychopaths, and pedophiles of Britain. The Organized and Serial Crime unit relies on advanced police techniques, while Creegan prefers to fall back upon his instincts; together they will need every tool at their disposal to fight worst depredations of monsters in human flesh. Featuring a top-quality cast and gripping writing, Touching Evil is strongly recommended for fans of crime drama. It should be noted that Touching Evil contains violence, nudity, and disturbing images; this is not a DVD collection for the faint of heart. 8 episodes on 5 discs, 13 hours, 4:3 full screen, SDH subtitles.

Really good police procedural. The cinematography is well done and the characters are sombre and sympathetic. The plots are unique. I love this series and re-watch it periodically which is unusual for me.

If you're a fan of Robson Green, you will like this collection. The dynamics of the characters come together well and the stories are just as disturbing as 'Wire In The Blood'.

The first episode takes awhile to get down to it as most english films, as the series continues it gets better. I'd buy it again.

The stories are quite good, if a little drawn out, but even having lived in the United Kingdon for 3 years and becoming used to their speech, I found some of the mumbled comments on the audio such that I had to back up the DVD and replay segments to umderstamd what was going on.
Good picture, acting, and stories.

I think that Robson Green is one of the best actors going, he seems to get into the minds of the very evil. This is a credit to Robson Green for his acting ability and I like his fishing shows too.

Touching Evil seems to be the infant of the subsequent series, Wire in the Blood. I found this series a little too on the emotionally dramatic side, (personal drama of the main characters, all seem like they require psycological help) I wonder how they would make any psych screening for the job of solving serial murder cases.
If you can get past the dramatic, unrelated to the stories themselves, the stories are interesting, and never is any event predictable. Its not lighthearted entertainment, and the stories are interesting, but I gave it a 4 and not a 5 because the overly dramatic personality quirks of the main characters really detracts from the stories overall.