☆ ☆ ½
The
Medusa Touch (1978) – J. Gold
After
The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976) were big hits, I guess there was a
great temptation to jump on the bandwagon and make supernatural horror films. I had never even heard of this one – and for
good reason, it turns out. Richard
Burton stars (in flashback) as a man who believes that he can cause disasters
just by willing them – at the start of the film, he is murdered but his will to
live is too strong and he remains in a coma.
Inspector Brunel (Lino Ventura) is assigned to the case and slowly
uncovers the facts, mostly by interviewing Burton’s psychologist (played by Lee
Remick), who nevertheless seems to be hiding something. It all feels rather clichéd and perhaps only
one step above TV fare (for the time) but I did enjoy the scenes with Ventura (star
of many Melville films) who is nevertheless burdened by a clunky script (best
line has him hoping that he is actually insane himself). Burton, in contrast, is mostly silent and pretty
grim throughout. Has he really willed an
airplane to crash into a building (!!!) and will he soon cause Westminster Abbey
to come crashing down, on the Queen even?
The finale drags far too much and the sting in the tail doesn’t really
connect as well as it should (I didn’t get the sense of foreboding dread that I
should have). Watch at your own risk.
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