Movie Review: The Medusa Touch (1978, Hen's Tooth Video)

...the late, great Richard Burton...mentioned in the same breath as this titular webpage...Really?? Come on...really?? That might well be the reactionary consensus of most run-of-the-mill mainstream film fans; however, for those of us devoted cinemaphiles...the loyal disciples of the film fantastique...those who embrace the odd, the strange, the misfit, the unconventional...well, heck, Richard Burton, despite countless revered, praised and respected performances...a classical renaissance actor, to be sure...is hardly out of place, in the cult film genre. "Where Eagles Dare"..."Night of the Iguana"..."Cleopatra"..."Anne of a Thousand Days"...Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"...not to mention, his many grandeur contributions to Shakespeare, both film and stage...really, shall we go on?? However, surprisingly enough, his contributions to cult films, has definitely proven somewhat lacking, as far as the more arcane, sinister and diabolical, in the sense of the more easily dismissed 'junket' type of films, for lack of a better word. Time and time again, one sees and hears of actors, past their prime...still being sought for what might be considered 'less than desireable' roles; and yet, for good or for bad, Richard Burton never really let such a thing restrict himself from taking on roles, which he perhaps might have found interesting, and yet which for the status quo masses, might be considered unusual and wholly unexpected, in assuming...like this quaint and sinister little ditty of a thriller...a melding of the classic 'disaster' movie, with the paranormal...