Rainey Dawn I don't get what is so special about this film - other than the fact that Richard Burton is starring. I was watching a clean copy of the film, nice colors and all, but it the film looked dingy. I guess they wanted to use whatever type of film it is that causes this look. It's not the first time I've seen films looking dingy.All of this crime, police and war stuff going on in the film is not my bag. OK so the guy uses his telekinesis powers and bad things happen when he thinks about it - like blowing up building and such. A real eye-roller for me, I don't get all the hype of it. I guess because it's simply not my cup of tea.I like the telekinesis theme but not this this particular story.1/10

Nerd_in_Norway With an extraordinary stage presence and a baritone voice so pleasant he could read the phone book and get a standing ovation, RICHARD BURTON would make even the dullest movies interesting (the exception that proves the rule being the dreadful 1977 Exorcist-sequel, THE HERETIC).Legendary for his two turbulent marriages to Liz Taylor, this Welsh Wonder of the World ranks up there with the giants of British film and theatre, but sadly so did his health. The man, who in 1974 nearly drank himself to death, suffered from both kidney disease and an enlarged liver at his early death ten years later.The toast of Hollywood in the early 1950's (Humphrey Bogart was one of his biggest fans), the 1960's saw him as one of the highest-paid movie stars in the world, he received a total of six Academy Award nominations. A Socialist and an Atheist with a strong contempt for Capitalists "exploiting the poor," he even suggested all actors were "latent homosexuals."Like so many of his stage and screen roles, Richard Burton could be larger than life. So what better part for this man, than the starring role in THE MEDUSA TOUCH, playing a writer living in horror convinced that he can murder people just by thinking about it!Most critics strongly dismissed this film upon its release in 1978. In retrospect I guess it's easy to see why a movie like this would seem silly, almost archaic at the time, especially as it was following gritty classics like Deliverance, The French Connection, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and beautiful spectacles like Close Encounters of the Third Kind.Seen with 21st Century goggles however it's near impossible not to enjoy what is going on here. THE MEDUSA TOUCH starts out with a brutal murder, takes on the shape of a police procedural, then flirts more and more with the supernatural, before moving into possible Sci-Fi territory and finally punching you in the face with scenes of both Action and Horror!"Horror" in this case meaning closer to Hammer House than it does the cynical US horror movies of the era (just so I don't get any angry messages from people who were expecting ROSEMARY'S BABY or THE SHINING).THE MEDUSA TOUCH has plenty of quirks and odd twists along the way, even a suicide-scene sprinkled with comedy, but this just adds to the fun, the end result being a movie quite unlike anything else. The movie's finale I found so memorable, I wanted to hug the screen, but that probably says more about me than anything else! Other people might want to punch the screen, and I would pity them for taking their movies so seriously.Italian veteran actor Lino Ventura is a fun choice co-starring as the French (!) police detective who has to figure out what is real and what's not. The beautiful Lee Remick is also along for the ride as Burton's doctor. The rest of the cast is made up of familiar faces, almost like a who's who of British film and television; Gordon Jackson, Harry Andrews, Michael Hordern, Derek Jacobi, Michael Byrne and the greatest classic "Sherlock Holmes" in the history of television; Jeremy Brett.The highlight of the cast is still Burton though. There is always something about this man's presence that lends extra credence to anything he's in.Compared to similar films, THE MEDUSA TOUCH seems somewhat forgotten today. Why this is, I'm not sure. Could it be so simple that it followed on the heels of the aforementioned EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC? A genre movie so boring, it works like a black hole on any nearby piece of celluloid.THE MEDUSA TOUCH is anything but boring. It might be eccentric and throwing in everything but the kitchen sink, but just like Richard Burton, it is never boring!

intp I saw the commercial for this movie on TV when I was a young boy, around 1978, but never saw the movie until just recently. I always remembered two scenes in particular from that commercial: (a) some guy with telekinesis causing a plane crash, and (b) some guy with telekinesis running at a motorcycle cop, and causing that cop to stop. For years, I've wondered about that movie.Turns out that my interpretation of my visual memory was flawed. The latter scene actually occurs near the end of the movie and involved no telekinesis at all. Rather, a plainclothes cop ran toward a motorcade to get them to stop, and the motorcycle cop stopped simply to avoid hitting him. I was happy to get clarification on that point which did serve to provide some small sense of personal closure.I can't recommend the movie itself, however, as explained below.MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW (but really, there's very little reason for most people to watch this, unless you're fatalistically inclined...)The movie itself started out promisingly-- a grim thriller involving a police investigation of an assault on a cynical, bitter, anti-religious writer, played by Richard Burton. It turns out that the writer, who says several times that he disbelieves in a divinity, nevertheless thinks he is somehow possessed by 'devils' who have given him inhuman telekinetic destructive powers, which he uses to cause mayhem. The assailant was his psychiatrist, who acted out of the necessity of stopping a violent madman.But there's no payoff, and really no point to this at all-- unless the idea of world destruction by an unstoppable malevolent force is somehow appealing to the particular viewer. The writer ends up surviving his seemingly catastrophic injuries and begins to wreak widespread destruction, while still seemingly barely alive on life support. The ending of the movie was a complete catastrophe, both literally and metaphorically. The implication is that the lunatic is simply unkillable (when the inspector just disconnects his life support, he continues to live)-- how silly is that? And if he's unkillable, there was nothing anyone could have done to stop him, anyway, so all of the efforts of the inspector and the psychiatrist were for naught.I mean, do they really mean that stopping the guy's heart wouldn't kill him? How about destroying his brain? Hacking him to pieces? Or burning him to ash? Surely that would have stopped his telekinesis? If not (and it's implied that even those extreme measures might not have worked), then this movie is pure silliness and camp. And if so, the director owed it to the audience to show such an event happening, rather than just leave the audience hanging. It still would have been silly, but at least there would have been closure and a small feeling that watching the movie was not a total waste of time.Note: subsequent to writing the above, I learned that Roger Ebert deemed this movie to be the worst film of 1978 (see "Ebert Presents: At the Movies", Episode 2.6). Too bad Ebert's actual review doesn't seem to be available.

kevinmoon62 'The Medusa Touch' fits as one of those films that certainly deserves to be called a masterpiece that became a well kept secret. If you are a fan of the genre and haven't seen it, what a rare find it is! Contributors to threads of a remake of this film are filled with screams against that idea. And deservedly so. Any attempt to remake this classic would be a travesty.Richard Burton's excellent performance, and surly the role fits Burton's acting style like a well tailored glove. Casting him as an intelligent and well versed author, whose spoken (and written) dialog is scripted to delve deep into a profound command of the English language, is right up Burton's alley. I see much written here about Burton's outstanding performance and they are certainly correct.It almost seems an oversight however, that the performance given by Lino Ventura (Inspector Brunel) is as fine a work of acting as can be. Officially a 'supporting actor' in the film, one could hardly tell. Cast as a French Exchange Detective who has a suspicious, slightly non-trusting relationship with his English Scotland Yard counterparts, Ventura turns in a nearly flawless role, and makes the idea work exquisitely.Often while deep in puzzled thought and shock, mere facial expressions from Inspector Brunel are perfect additions to Ventura's role. To many thread do not topic Lino Ventura's excellent acting in this outstanding classic gem of a thriller. Perhaps due to many fans in the English speaking world never having heard of Lino Ventura, and figuring he was a 'small-fame' actor. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ventura was Italian citizenship and birth, while living the majority of his life in France.Ventura was a hugely acclaimed and decorated actor in France, who played some iconic roles there. Casting Lino Ventura in this film was no stretch, as his timeless performance attests. The filmmakers were fortunate to land him. In many ways, Ventura's performance helped mold this movie into the hidden classic 'The Medusa Touch' will forever be.