A killer gaze: Richard Burton and his ‘Medusa Touch’

A badly beaten man who survived a vile attack lies unconscious in a London hospital.

His head and face are wrapped in bandages, only his eyes (a key element) and mouth are visible. The heart monitor by his bed is blank, but inexplicably there’s a small spike in brain activity. He’s not dead – but is he alive?

Like the 1978 British film The Medusa touch As the image unfolds over the next 100 minutes, this flash will increase in speed and size, increasing in intensity and pulling the viewer to the edge of their seat. At least that’s how I felt recently when I saw this thriller in which Richard Burton plays a troubled man who thinks he can kill with his wits.

The Movie Synopsis – A French detective in London uses diaries and a psychiatrist to reconstruct the life of a man who is in hospital with serious injuries – made me think I was watching a basic crime thriller, but I got more.

The title also refers to one of my favorite monsters, Medusa, the mythological creature that turned people to stone with a glance. I wondered how that would affect the film and of course hoped the creature would show up in some way, unbelievable as that was. (Technically it appeared, but as a work of art.)

It turns out that The Medusa touch is a fascinating combination of mystery thriller And telekinetic horror film. When one of the characters utters the simple phrase “I turned to stone for a moment,” it’s definitely chilling.

During Brian DePalma’s excellent 1978 film The fury remains the leader in this genre, The Medusa touch is an interesting and well-made film with nifty special effects. (Wait until the nearly 10-minute scene of death and destruction at the end.) It may have gone under the radar in the last 40+ years, but it certainly deserves a new look. Honestly, it’s worth checking out Burton – who’s making the most of his somewhat limited screen time – along with Lee Remick, French-Italian actor Lino Ventura (The Valachi Papers) and a supporting cast that includes Harry Andrews, Jeremy Brett and Derek Jacobi.

* * * * *

The Medusa touch begins with a televised coverage of the impending disaster on Achilles 6, a US mission for the first permanent station on the Moon. We only see the back of the person watching in a dark room, but we know it’s Burton. He plays John Morlar, an author of novels and poems that are dark in poetry, often angry and full of bombast.

There’s a knock on the unlocked door.

“I thought you were coming,” he says without turning around.

The unseen visitor turns his chair violently so that they face each other.

“Ah, finally an answer,” says Morlar, before a statue is thrown at his head and blood splatters repeatedly on the TV screen.

As the opening credits begin, the camera focuses on the Medusa sign on the wall, capturing the moment of her death: snakes for hair, a scream of terror forever burned into her face, blood at the base of hers decapitated head. Finally, Medusa’s image dissolves into Burton’s face. Director Jack Gold makes a statement.

Detectives arrive, led by grumpy French inspector Monsieur Brunel (Lino Ventura), who is in London on an exchange program. (We warm up to him.) The sight of the corpse on the floor makes everyone sick. “Talk about beating someone’s brains out,” says one. We don’t see the face – the director shoots the scene while the head is cleverly hidden behind a chair – but we get the point.

Inspector Brunel reads one of Morlar’s diaries, which contains pages of carefully printed poems, tirades, and mysterious words:

No sign of L

zone field

The Western Front

What does that mean? The mystery takes shape.

After investigating the crime scene and questioning a neighbor, they return to Morlar’s apartment, where the inspector reads more poetry. (The film has a passion for words, and I appreciate that.)

“There are more tears than smiles, there is more sea than earth
One day the unbearable sorrow of mankind will descend upon the land
and an ark will float upon this liquid expression of misery.”

It’s a glimpse into a man’s soul, but we don’t have time to think because the sound of heavy breathing invades us.

Our corpse lives. It’s a miracle.

* * * * *

Morlar shows little sign of life at the hospital, which is also where victims of a nearby jumbo jet crash were taken. (Coincidence?) We’ll return to his room as the film progresses, but the only change is the disturbing beeps of one machine indicating his increasing brain activity, while another registers no heartbeat. “You look like a ghost determined not to die,” says the doctor coolly.

We get to know Morlar through his diaries and flashbacks. Zonfeld, mentioned in his diary, gives much insight into this complicated man. this is dr Zonfeld, his psychiatrist, played by Lee Remick with her amazing blue eyes playing her own part.

The film goes deep into the idea that eyes are not only the windows to the soul, but also the source of Medusa’s power. So the camera likes to focus on the eyes, and since Remick and Burton have a similar color scheme, their connection is unmistakable.

People are also afraid of Morlar’s eyes.

“Have you seen Morlar’s eyes?” Neighbor Pennington asks the inspector. “The church says there are demons in some people, and that’s true.”

A law student, Morlar is described as reclusive and someone who had “the most disturbing eyes”. In conversation you could never look back.” Scary.

Flashbacks let us overhear sessions between Zonfeld and Morlar where we hear about his “gift for disasters” and how trying to convince him that it’s just delusions or a series of coincidences only infuriates him more.

“It’s no coincidence, that’s me,” Morlar insists emphatically, quickly telling the doctor, “You spend most of your time dragging people out of Hell, and yet you refuse to see the devil.”

This is a man beset by tragedies he feels so responsible for that he’s collecting newspaper clippings in an oversized scrapbook: floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, massacres, riots, murders, murders, plane crashes, famines.

He talks about the many people who died in his life: about his nanny, who terrified him with her stories about brimstone, fire and hell; his cruel and bullying mother and mild father who also died accidentally, as did his school’s cruel headmaster. Then there’s his neighbor’s wife. Although Morlar says he didn’t physically kill her, he vehemently believes it wanted they die.

It’s wonderful to hear Burton express Morlar’s beliefs and anger with that powerful voice. “I made it possible, me ordered “It happened,” he yells. (This film wouldn’t have been the same without Burton.)

He shares his anger at the world – at the government spending millions to save three astronauts while millions starve, a justice system that fails to protect the innocent, and money raised to save buildings. It almost sounds noble, even for Inspector Brunel to say, “I’m learning to admire the man.”

Over time, what started out as a simple crime thriller becomes a film that makes the characters and viewers question their own beliefs. Is this all a coincidence? Can someone have psychologically wanted an act of violence? Is Morlar a victim of circumstance? Obsessed? Crazy?

While the film takes the idea that he can kill with his mind quite seriously, it doesn’t provide any definite answers.

Even Morlar doesn’t know as he screams in fear, “What am I?” to Dr. zone field.

She has no answer for him.

Me? I’m just sure that Richard Burton has gorgeous blue-green eyes.

Medusa in the movie

Treat yourself to seeing Medusa in a movie as she was meant to be: a killing machine that only needs to look down on her victims. I strongly recommend two classic films: Hammer’s traditional horror film The Gorgon (1964) with the dynamic duo Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and battle of the titans (1981) with its Greek gods and monsters and a Medusa created from the talents of stop-motion animation master Ray Harryhausen.

– Toni Ruberto for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all articles about Toni’s Monsters and Matinees here.

Toni Ruberto, born and raised in Buffalo, NY, is an editor and writer at The Buffalo News. She shares her love of classic movies on her blog, Watching Forever, and is a member of the Classic Movie Blog Association. Toni was President of the former Buffalo division of TCM Backlot and now runs the Buffalo Classic Movie Buffs spin-off group. She’s proud to have spotlighted Buffalo and its grand old movie palaces as the inaugural winner of the TCM in Your Hometown competition. You can find Toni on Twitter at @toniruberto.