One kind of forgets that there was a point in history when George Hamilton was famous for actually doing stuff, as opposed to just standing around and having a weird tan. Medusa features a young Hamilton as an American cad in Greece who gets on the wrong end of a substantial Mob debt. Mobster Cameron Mitchell has cut George plenty of slack because he kind of likes the young rakehell, and because George stands to inherit more than enough money to both pay off his debt and pay off plenty of potential future debts. But when word gets out that George may be loosing out on the loot, Mitchell pushes him to track down the people in charge of the will and encourage them to make sure all is well. When those people start turning up murdered, things get ugly for poor George, who expresses remorse for his murderous side projects by doing things like crouching in the corner of a shadowy room and staring off into the distance as he sits on a ride in a playground on a bleak day. Only his sister stands besides him, though Cameron Mitchell seems to be a pretty decent friend when he's not forced to beat George up to collect on the debt.

This movie was pretty boring. Hamilton is surprisingly effective as the young cad, hamming it up a bit in spots -- but what are you going to do when you're opposite Cameron Mitchell? Compared to him, Hamilton is positively understated. Hamilton's sister is played by the gorgeous Luciana Paluzzi, the murderous Fiona from Thunderball, and Gordon Hessler -- fresh off directing a number of Edgar Allen Poe films for AIP but long before he directed Pray for Death starring Sho Kosugi -- is behind the camera. Still, a solid cast and crew can't make up for a terribly meandering plot that never seems to have any point. It never gives us a reason to give a damn about anything that's happening. When it's revealed that the murderous George Hamilton might not be the murderer after all, it should be a big revelation. Instead, it's delivered via a throw-away line you will miss if you nod off -- and believe me, you will nod off. Worth watching if you want to see George Hamilton emoting or Cameron Mitchell with his shirt off, but beyond that, there's not much reason to bother with this lackluster crime drama.

Labels: Set: Chilling Classics