The Gorgon (1964)

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

J. Llewellyn Devine (story)
John Gilling (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 February 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

A Monster With the Power to Turn Living Screaming Flesh Into Stone!

Plot:

In early-twentieth-century middle-Europe, villagers are literally becoming petrified. Although the authorities...

Plot Keywords:

Stone | Turned To Stone | Legend | Medusa | Death Of Fiancé

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Prof. Karl Meister
Peter Cushing	...	Dr. Namaroff
Richard Pasco	...	Paul Heitz
Barbara Shelley	...	Carla Hoffman
Michael Goodliffe	...	Professor Jules Heitz
Patrick Troughton	...	Inspector Kanof
Joseph O'Conor	...	Coroner
Prudence Hyman	...	The Gorgon
Jack Watson	...	Ratoff
Redmond Phillips	...	Hans, the valet
Jeremy Longhurst	...	Bruno Heitz
Toni Gilpin	...	Sascha Cass
Joyce Hemson	...	Martha, the mad woman
Alister Williamson	...	Janus Cass
Michael Peake	...	Constable

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:15 | Finland:K-16 | Spain:T | USA:Unrated | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

Although the UK cinema version was uncut some shots of the Gorgon's decapitated head were slightly darkened by the BBFC.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the climactic scene in the castle, during the fight between Namarof and Heitz, Namarof tries to secure his balance by holding on to an iron candlestick which bends, revealing itself to be made out of rubber.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Teeth (2007/I)

Good if not great Hammer horror.

In Europe around the turn of the century, a mysterious murderer is on the loose, one that turns its victims to stone. It's Megaera, one of the three Gorgons of Greek mythology, that has managed to live on through the ages. Having lost both his father and brother to the creature, Paul Heitz (Richard Pasco) determines to solve the mystery, with the resistance of local doctor Namaroff (Peter Cushing) and the help of his professor, Meister (Christopher Lee).

Director Terence Fisher, in his career, had a simply amazing amount of genre entries to his credit, and this is directed in his typically efficient manner. It looks good, suspense and atmosphere are well done, and the cast does some fine work. It's lacking in terms of mystery, but is also quite effective in terms of portraying a tragic romance. Pasco is so good as a man blinded by love it would be hard not to feel something for him.

Old pros Cushing and Lee pull a nice switch here, with Cushing in a more dubious role than usual and Lee making for a stolid heroic type. Even though they don't appear together a lot, and Lee's role is minimal until the final half hour, they're still well worth watching as always. Brit beauty Barbara Shelley, "Dr. Who" performer Patrick Troughton, and Jack Watson figure prominently in a fine supporting cast.

The Gorgon itself, played by Prudence Hyman, is not all that scary or formidable, but is not badly done either. It works better in fleeting glimpses than when a full reveal finally takes place. Still, it's an interesting and unusual creature the likes of which we don't see all that often.

A commendably bleak and somber film, this is undeniably one of the more interesting things that I've seen from Hammer.

7/10