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The Medusa Touch (film)

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Genre
  
Horror, Sci-Fi

Country
  
United Kingdom & France

7.1/10
IMDb

Director
  
Screenplay
  
Duration
  

Language
  
English

The Medusa Touch (film) movie poster

Release date
  
14 April 1978(United States)

Based on
  
The Medusa Touch byPeter Van Greenaway

Cast
  
(John Morlar), (Brunel), (Doctor Zonfeld), (Assistant Commissioner), (Barrister), (Patricia)

Similar movies
  
Dr. No
,
For Your Eyes Only
,
From Russia With Love
,
You Only Live Twice
,
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
,
The Living Daylights

The Medusa Touch is a 1978 British supernatural thriller film directed by Jack Gold. It stars Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick and Harry Andrews, with cameos by Alan Badel, Derek Jacobi, Gordon Jackson, Jeremy Brett and Michael Hordern. The screenplay was by John Briley, based on the novel The Medusa Touch by Peter Van Greenaway.

Contents

The Medusa Touch (film) movie scenes

The Medusa Touch was a Saturn Award for Best Horror Film nominee, while Roger Ebert named The Medusa Touch as the worst film of 1978.

The Medusa Touch (film) movie scenes

Plot summary

The Medusa Touch (film) movie scenes

Monsieur Brunel, a French detective on an exchange scheme in London, is assigned to investigate the murder of novelist John Morlar. As they examine the crime scene, Brunel discovers the victim is still alive in spite of his severe injuries and has him rushed to hospital.

The Medusa Touch (film) wwwgstaticcomtvthumbmovieposters38001p38001

With the help of Morlar's journals and Dr. Zonfeld, a psychiatrist Morlar was consulting, Brunel reconstructs Morlar's past life. Seen in flashback, it is filled with inexplicable catastrophes and the sudden deaths of people he disliked or who offended him. Morlar was even more convinced when a supposed psychic examined his hands, became ill, refunded Morlar's fee, and excused himself. Dr. Zonfeld scoffs at this explanation, asking Morlar if he seriously believes in palmistry as a means to predict the future.

The Medusa Touch (film) The Medusa Touch 1978

As flashbacks continue, it becomes shown that Morlar is a psychic with powerful psychokinetic abilities. Disgusted at the world, Morlar has caused two recent disasters: a Boeing 747-200 that crashed into a London office tower and the loss of a manned spacecraft. Dr. Zonfeld, who came to see Morlar at his home, had tried to stop him from killing the astronauts in the spacecraft, but she had failed. She had then bashed in Morlar's skull with a blunt object.

The Medusa Touch (film) The Medusa Touch DVD Amazoncouk Richard Burton Lino Ventura

Brunel eventually figures out that Zonfeld attempted to kill Morlar, and confronts her over it. She admits that it was her, but Brunel does not arrest her right away, as what evidence he has is not truly enough to prove, in a court of law, that she was responsible. Later, Brunel returns to Dr. Zonfeld's office, but he discovers her corpse where she had committed suicide, leaving a note where she admits the realization that she cannot live in a world in which Morlar also lives, apologizing to Brunel for leaving the mess for him to deal with. In the mean time, Brunel discovers that Morlar had mentioned, in one of his journals, news about a cathedral being repaired and how he intended to punish the hypocrisy of those praying there to God but caring nothing about the suffering He inflicts. From his hospital bed, Morlar manages to bring down the cathedral on the "unworthy heads" of a VIP congregation attending the fund raising event for the crumbling building's restoration. Morlar seems able to keep himself alive by sheer willpower. An enraged Brunel runs from the collapsing cathedral to the hospital, where he tries to kill Morlar to end the destruction, just as Zonfeld had tried to kill Morlar to stop him from killing the astronauts, but is also unsuccessful in stopping him. Morlar writes on a pad the name of his next target: the nuclear power station at Windscale (now Sellafield).

Cast

The Medusa Touch (film) The Medusa Touch Bluray

  • Richard Burton as John Morlar
  • Lino Ventura as Brunel
  • Lee Remick as Doctor Zonfeld
  • Harry Andrews as Assistant Commissioner
  • Alan Badel as Barrister
  • Marie-Christine Barrault as Patricia
  • Jeremy Brett as Edward Parrish
  • Michael Hordern as Atropos - Fortune Teller
  • Gordon Jackson as Doctor Johnson
  • Michael Byrne as Duff
  • Derek Jacobi as Townley - Publisher
  • Robert Lang as Pennington
  • Avril Elgar as Mrs. Pennington
  • John Normington as Schoolmaster
  • Robert Flemyng as Judge McKinley
  • Philip Stone as Dean
  • Malcolm Tierney as Deacon
  • Norman Bird as Father
  • Jennifer Jayne as Mother
  • James Hazeldine as Lovelass
  • Gordon Honeycomb as Himself (Newsreader)

  • The Medusa Touch (film) REVIEW THE MEDUSA TOUCH 1978 STARRING RICHARD BURTON UK BLU

    The Medusa Touch (film) The Medusa Touch Alchetron The Free Social Encyclopedia

    The Medusa Touch (film) The Medusa Touch review Bluray

    The Medusa Touch (film) The Medusa Touch film Alchetron the free social encyclopedia

    References

    The Medusa Touch (film) Wikipedia
    The Medusa Touch (film) IMDbThe Medusa Touch (film) Roger EbertThe Medusa Touch (film) themoviedb.org