Movie about a man who uses his mental abilities to cause catastrophic events and accidents to others

Question

In the 1990s I watched a movie about a man who could cause disasters and deadly accidents to others by using the power of his mind.

The movie starts with a boy who grows in a school where he is abused by the teacher. During a class, where the kid was not paying attention and was daydreaming looking through the window at falling leaves, he is then forced by this teacher to pick a sack full of autumn leaves, then after the kid brings the sack of leaves in to the classroom, the teacher asks the kid to count the leaves. Then we see the kid very sad and upset looking at the sack of leaves, which is near a stove and catches fire, and then the whole building burns down.

The boy becomes aware of his capability of causing accidents if he is focusing on this goal, and starts to use his "powers" to kill anyone who bothers him.

I do not remember most of the movie, but in the second half this guy is identified as being the source of accidents, and is severely wounded in the head by someone who hits him with a metal statue if I recall correctly, then he goes into a coma and is taken to the hospital where is connected to life supporting machines because his head is severely injured.

While others think he is unconscious and harmless, he actually is using his brain to cause some accidents, like a plane crash and a church to crumble over the people inside.

This is the most I can remember. The movie might have been released in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s, I have watched it in the 1990s, but I don't remember which year.

Answer 1

This is The Medusa Touch

John Morlar (Richard Burton) is watching a British television broadcast when an anchorman states that American astronauts are trapped in orbit around the moon. Suddenly someone in Morlar's room picks up a figurine and strikes him on the head repeatedly. His blood splatters the television screen. French Detective-Inspector Brunel (Lino Ventura) arrives at Morlar's apartment to begin an investigation. At first he thinks Morlar is dead, but soon he hears him breathe. At the hospital, Morlar is hooked up to life support systems, one machine in particular monitors the activity of his battered brain. Brunel discovers that Morlar has been in psychological analysis because of his history of being witness to many disasters, other people's disasters. Dr. Zonfeld (Lee Remick), Morlar's analyst, explains that Morlar's delusions had begun when he was a child. He believed that he had caused a hated nanny's death. Morlar's childhood delusions were reinforced at a resort when he overheard his parents...

Trailer

It starts with him being brained by the statue, and being in the hospital, then starts flashing back to his childhood. This review mentions him burning the school down due to the teacher (about 1:22 into the trailer).

The flashbacks to Morlar’s childhood and previous adult life are a mixed bag. Some (like the killing of his parents) come across as more silly then scary. Others like the destruction of his school in a fire, are more carefully developed to justify Morlar’s source of anger (you’ll rarely find a teacher as loathsome as the one here) so therefore more interesting

Found with a search for film mind powers causes accidents