The Medusa Touch (1978)

There's a murder attempt in the opening scene - a man watching a news story about astronauts is bludgeoned - and then, as the victim lies in hospital, an investigation is launched which reveals in flashbacks from the man's life the queer paranormal context of the crime, in this gripping 1978 film, part science-fiction, part police procedural, and part supernatural thriller with Richard Burton beautifully playing the tortured central character both sympathetic and terrifying, like a grown-up Damien.

★★★★☆

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My Cousin Rachel (1952)

A sumptuous adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's gothic romance, but Phillip, who suspects his 'cousin' Rachel conspired first against his late Uncle Ambrose and now against him for the family's Cornwall estate, is portrayed by Richard Burton as such a dunderhead - insipid, delusional, violent, naive, and let's face it, a likely xenophobe - that from the word go modern viewers' sympathies rest not with him but with the possibly conniving, possibly murderous Rachel.

★★★☆☆

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