The Medusa Touch (1978)

Such a frustrating disappointment

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Richard Burton plays a man who can make terrible things happen by willing it so in his mind. The opening scene shows him being battered nearly to death in his apartment; the rest of the movie he's lying in a coma. His brain activity is still very much alive. Will detective Lino Ventura and psychiatrist Lee Remick be able to stop him before he strikes again? That premise sounds like a potentially good thriller, but the vast majority of the movie is spent trying to convince the leads that Richard Burton really is responsible for the disasters he's claiming credit for. But, told through flashbacks, the audience believes him immediately, so most of the time it's boring waiting for the other people in the movie to catch on. It would have been more exciting if the audience doubted his powers as well.Still, Lee Remick is beautiful, and she's given lots of wide-eyed close-ups in this movie, so if you just want the eye candy, you can probably get through it.

This is not a great film, indeed at times it appears no more than an average TV movie. And yet it is involving, has a very novel central idea and stars Richard Burton and Lino Ventura. Preposterous and yet persuasive this has a very violent beginning and then just as violent a surprise to launch this unique film onward. Burton is brilliant and some of the scenes are among his very best, the courtroom and the wife departure scenes come to mind when his delivery is masterful. Ventura holds his own well though I understand this was hoped to widen the great actor's appeal to the world wider than Italy. So understated is his acting and so ignored was the film that this unfortunately did not happen. Burton's character believes and we are convinced, that he can cause catastrophe. It is unfortunate that what must have been a limited budget led to overblown disaster scenes being unconvincing and a parade of celebratory actors unhelpful. Hidden gem this may not be but well worth seeing as something very different.

it has each ingredient of the films from same genre. but it is a British production and one of films of Robert Burton. that detail does the difference. because the mystery has a different definition, the events are slices of a kind of magic, the warning sounds more actual. it is a mystery. or a crime. or a thriller. but one who knows ignore the limits of genre in a rare seductive manner. because it has the gift to use the basic idea - the absolute power- in the right style. and the result is fascinating. scene by scene. sure, the theme is not original and the performances are only good. but the feeling after its credits is special. like reading a letter from a lost world who represents a prophecy.

What a Sleeper! most Movie Buffs probably never heard of this Creepy, Scary, Well Written Supernatural, Para-Psychological, Serial-Killer, Conglomerate, British Gem. Combining all these Elements in a Fast moving, unfolding of a "Simple Murder", is so Professionally handled it seems Effortless. It is well Acted and is Respectful of a Subject in Disrepute, and the Film makes it all seem Believable. Fine SFX Work, not always Present in European Cinema (especially in the 70's), just adds another realm of Verisimilitude to the Far Out, Fantastic Premise.The Ending has a Terrific Twist. Not to be missed.