The Medusa Touch(1978)
1978 · Jack Gold · 109 min
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.
Horror · Thriller · Science Fiction · Mystery
6.8206 votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
1/5
Gore
3/5
Stays with you
How scary is The Medusa Touch?
The story unfolds backwards, piecing together one man's strange past through hospital records and interviews rather than moving forward in real time, so the tension builds through mystery and dread rather than shocks. It's a slow, talky thriller more than a traditional horror movie, with the scares coming from a growing sense that something huge and uncontrollable might be about to happen. The power at its center isn't ghostly or magical so much as an unexplained force of the mind, which gives it an eerie, unsettling edge rather than outright horror. It's the kind of film that leaves you thinking about helplessness and fate rather than jumping in your seat.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, The Medusa Touch rates psychological 4/5, visceral 3/5, gore 1/5, lingering effect 3/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 4 of 5
- Visceral: 3 of 5
- Gore: 1 of 5
- Lingering: 3 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 12 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 32 of 100 — leans Supernatural
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 58 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, moody detective-style mystery that gradually uncovers unsettling incidents, building steadily to a chaotic, high-tension climax.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 4.
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