The Medusa Touch (1978)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Jack Gold

Writers:

Peter Van Greenaway (novel)
John Briley (screenplay)

Release Date:

1978 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Psychological thriller about a novelist, a telekinetic, who causes disasters simply by thinking about them.

Plot Keywords:

Disaster | Brain | Investigation | Police | Childhood

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Richard Burton	...	John Morlar
Lino Ventura	...	Brunel
Lee Remick	...	Doctor Zonfeld
Harry Andrews	...	Assistant Commissioner
Alan Badel	...	Barrister
Marie-Christine Barrault	...	Patricia
Jeremy Brett	...	Edward Parrish
Michael Hordern	...	Atropos - Fortune Teller
Gordon Jackson	...	Doctor Johnson
Michael Byrne	...	Duff
Derek Jacobi	...	Townley - Publisher
Robert Lang	...	Pennington
Avril Elgar	...	Mrs. Pennington
John Normington	...	Schoolmaster
Robert Flemyng	...	Judge McKinley

Also Known As:

La grande menace (France)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Iceland:16 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bristol Cathedral, College Green, Bristol, England, UK

Company:

Coatesgold

Trivia:

The cathedral in the climactic scenes was given the fictitious name of Minster Cathedral (even though it was intended to be Westminster Abbey) because the director did not want anyone who was familiar with the architecture of the Abbey to say "But that's not Westminster Abbey", given that the scenes were actually filmed at Bristol Cathedral.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When Molar visits a fortune teller, the boom mic is visible above the fortune teller's head.

Quotes:

John Morlar: [his first meeting with Zonfeld] I have a "gift" for disaster.
Doctor Zonfeld: You seem to have survived it.
John Morlar: I don't mean for me, I mean for others.

Only worthwhile to see Burton.

TMT is not an awful movie, but it isn't a very good one. Surfing the wave of telekinetic movies that were churned out after "Carrie" was a surprise hit in 1976, TMT puts a distinctively British spin on horror. There are some aspects of the movie that are admirable...the approach to storytelling through intermingling of past and present, the (relative) lack of violence, the supporting characters, and a sly sense of humor, for example. But the only really compelling reason to watch this movie is to hear Richard Burton. What acting he does is quite minimal, but the dialogue snaps to life when he delivers his lines. Lee Remick. on the other hand, is trying to handle a role she simply doesn't have the chops for.

Having watched the movie again just recently, I have come to believe that it would have been a much better movie if it had even less violence than it does. The opening scene is compulsory, but some disaster footage later in the movie would have been even more effective if it had been implied, rather than shown.

Overall, a fairly effective and relatively bloodless horror film.