The Medusa Touch

John Morlar, the novelist played by Richard Burton, is attacked in his flat with his skull caved in and does not die. His brain goes on working. Brunel, the French detective on the case, reads Morlar's journals and arrives at a strange conclusion: this man can bring about disasters by thinking about them, and he is holding on now because there is one more job to do. The film's best decision is telling the story without ever letting the victim speak. We know Morlar only through flashbacks and what he wrote. Lee Remick plays his psychiatrist, a character who was male in the novel and was changed for her. Lino Ventura plays the detective. The cathedral collapse at the end was conceived as Westminster Abbey but is called Minster Cathedral in the film; the scenes were shot at Bristol Cathedral and the director did not want the audience confused. Jack Gold directed from a screenplay by John Briley, adapted from Peter Van Greenaway's 1973 novel. Who it is for: viewers who like seventies British supernatural thrillers and Burton. Who it is not for: anyone wanting scientific explanation or a fast pace.