The Gorgon (1964)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

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 | Legend | Medusa | Turned To Stone | 19th Century

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:

The name of the Gorgon character is "Megaera", supposedly taken from mythology. But Megaera ("jealous") in ancient myth is one of the three Erinyes, or Fates - the goddesses of revenge - not a Gorgon. According to Hesiod, the three Gorgons were Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa.

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:

Referenced in The Perfect Scary Movie (2005) (TV)

You've been ... Gorgonized!

Ah women… They mess with your head, break your heart or – as it is the case in "The Gorgon" – turn you to stone! This is one of the only classic movies I've seen featuring a female monster (apart from "Ariel, The Little Mermaid") and that alone is enough reason to check it out. Other damn good reasons to watch "The Gorgon" include: the production company (Hammer), the director (Terence Fisher) and the fact that it's another film pairing two of the most legendary genre icons that ever lived: Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Granted, they share very few scenes together and actually Christopher Lee only appears late in the film, but still their mutual presence adds a whole lot of charm to an already intelligent and atmospheric Gothic chiller. In the small & isolated place of Vandorf, people are regularly murdered during the nights when there's a full moon. They're not sucked dry by vampires or shredded to pieces by werewolves, no … they're gorgonized! Literally turned to stone, as a result of looking straight into the eyes of Magdar; one of three ancient gorgon-creatures with serpents in her hair and suffering from a severely ghoulish personality. University professor Jules Heitz, as well as his son Paul, tries to investigate the peculiar murder cases, but they're obstructed the entire townsfolk and particularly the nervous local Dr. Namaroff (Cushing). Only when the arrogant and straightforward professor Karl Meister (Lee) arrives to help Paul with his investigation, progress is made. "The Gorgon" benefices from the original choice for a monster as well as from the brisk performances and direction. The set pieces and filming locations are visually striking and deeply impressive, most notably all the sequences that take place inside autumn gardens and nearby old castle ruins. My only complaints concern the lack of Grand Guignol, the rather tacky make-up job on Prudence Hyman and the abrupt & disappointing climax. The actual Gorgon creature doesn't look terrifying at all, which is quite a shame.