The Medusa Touch

A hugely impressive mystery that relies not only on excellent performances and music, but more importantly on thoughtful direction that gradually builds up to a chilling finale that slams the door of accumulated depression and distress in your face, leaving the freaked-out viewer in the same room with characters. The clever structure of the plot and the gradual revelation and explanation of various motifs leaves no time to breathe thanks to masterfully executed time transitions, and Jack Gold manages to keep his characteristic authorial signature despite the constant work with expectations and genre duality. Plus Richard Burton in perhaps his most iconic role, and certainly his scariest. 90% (09/22/2017)

Old school. When you show a statue in the first scene, it’s obvious that in the next scene someone is going to get hit over the head with it. A horrifying jigsaw puzzle where each piece has its place and the resulting picture of ruin is soul-destroying. Richard Burton’s presence gives the key scenes the right timbre, making revelation of the victim’s past all the more powerful. Lino Ventura came across a little like a French De Niro (maybe because of the dubbing) and the role of Brunel fitted him like a glove. Most of today’s would-be mystery hybrids come nowhere near it. This was superb. (05/20/2011)

One thing will stay with you after watching this... An unpleasantly chilling feeling of “what if, after all". The Medusa wall sculpture in the opening credits came into my childhood dreams to terrify me more than anything else. And the tension built-up in the story (the tension, WOW the tension!), the superb acting performances by all of the actors (even Burton lying in the hospital bed; that stare, THAT stare!), an interestingly approached original topic, absolutely outstanding music (the main theme, THAT theme!) and then, primarily, THAT unforgettable ending. To this day I regret that I can’t get my hands on the book that this British gem is based on. An unforgettable movie and the movie that sparked my love of cinema. Even if in quite a chilling way. P.S.: Although the dubbing is incredibly well-done, you really should watch the original English version which, with Ventura’s French accent and Burton’s somber diction, is a completely different movie. (01/10/2007)

This movie is pleasantly sinister and mysterious at the start, and then, towards the end it is very chilling and pessimistic. Richard Burton and Lino Ventura are both great and propel this forward, and they pretty much do not share any dialog on screen in the entire movie. While watching this, it is quite possible to predict where the whole thing is heading, but the entire conclusion is the most sound, astonishing, and surprising point of the movie. For the overall thickly horror atmosphere, I felt like putting it on again the day after, so why not incline towards giving this a higher rating? (04/17/2019)

After a second viewing, it definitely deserves five stars. The Medusa Touch is an incredibly escalating film that creeps stealthily from the chilling beginning, hissing like a snake, occasionally sticking out its imaginary horns (yes, I know a snake doesn't have horns), but only attacking you with all its force in the final 20 minutes. The thrilling experience of Burton's and Ventura's performance is underlined by the essentially brilliant music, Gold's direction caters to it all and makes it TRULY one of the most thrilling films of all time. (03/21/2010)