According to what I've read about Medusa it was partially produced by "star" George Hamilton which puts it into the category of vanity projects that tend to become tedious stories that overexpose the actor who in some way feel that their particular talents aren't utilized more. Clocking in at a whopping 103 minutes, Medusa, a title that bares no significance whatsoever to the plot, delivers a dagger to any possibility of Hamilton seen as anything other than a hammy, Warren Beatty clone.
George Hamilton plays the role of Jeff an American playboy, drunk, gambler, screwup delux that is purportedly in line to inherit millions through a will. Jeff has a very unhealthy relationship with his sister, here played by Luciana Paluzzi who has been betrothed to financially successful Theodore Roubanis as Nikos. The fact that Jeff and Sarah are brother and sister when Hamilton is unabashedly American and Italian Paluzzi, thick accent and all, seem so odd that it would have been better to say that perhaps they were former lovers than siblings. They certainly act the lovers part anyway. Jeff desperately needs to be included in the will because he owes money to friend and gangster loan shark Angelo, ( Cameron Mitchell) who in turn owes money to his bosses. Mitchell is the loan bright spot as he appears to have fun as the tough-talking wise ass who seems conflicted with what to do with Jeff. The rest of the film is about Jeff's decline into the depths of darkness as he and a "mysterious" accomplice go on a murder spree in order to extract information about the will. Takis Kavouras rounds out the cast as a Greek inspector with the hairiest hands I've every seen!
Between Hamilton's mugging to the camera and the dragging plot it truly is a task to watch this in its entirety. George even manages to cast his wife, Alana Stewart, in a pointless role as Eleana. Gordon Hessler of MST3K's Master Ninja fame directs this made for television clunker that provides no surprises whatsoever. There is a Greek musical score that is bashed over your skull repeatedly. If a viewer drank a shot of ouzo every time it blares onto a scene you might actually be drunk enough to make it through Medusa in one sitting. I did not succeed.
