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The Medusa Touch

The Medusa Touch

Horror · Thriller · Science Fiction · 1978

A French detective in London reconstructs the life of a man lying in hospital with severe injuries with the help of journals and a psychiatrist. He realises that the man had powerful telekinetic abilities.

Movie details

The Medusa Touch

“Richard Burton is the man with the medusa touch... he has the power to create catastrophe.”

1978 Horror · Thriller · Science Fiction 1h 49m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

A French detective in London reconstructs the life of a man lying in hospital with severe injuries with the help of journals and a psychiatrist. He realises that the man had powerful telekinetic abilities.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Medusa Touch?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jack Gold

Written by

John Briley

Richard Burton

Richard Burton

John Morlar

Lino Ventura

Lino Ventura

Brunel

Lee Remick

Lee Remick

Doctor Zonfeld

Harry Andrews

Harry Andrews

Assistant Commissioner

Alan Badel

Alan Badel

Barrister

Marie-Christine Barrault

Marie-Christine Barrault

Patricia

Jeremy Brett

Jeremy Brett

Edward Parrish

Court is in session

Put The Medusa Touch on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.