Main Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Richard Pasco, Barbara Shelley, Michael Goodliffe
Release Year: 1964
Country: UK
Run Time: 83 minutes
Plot
A small German town falls prey to an unseen monster that turns its victims into lifeless statues in this mid-'60s outing from Hammer Studios. When the girlfriend of bohemian artist Bruno Heitz (Jeremy Longhurst) becomes the latest townsperson to turn up dead, her corpse transformed to stone, Bruno hangs himself, leaving the town to assume his guilt. But when his father, Prof. Heitz (Michael Goodliffe), comes to investigate, he too encounters the Gorgon and turns to stone. Just before dying, the professor dashes off instructions to his other son, Paul (Richard Pasco), about how to exonerate Bruno. Suspicion falls on Dr. Namaroff (Peter Cushing), proprietor of the local madhouse, although one of his patients (Joyce Hemson) seems just as likely a culprit. Then along comes Prof. Carl Maister (Christopher Lee), a folklore expert from the University of Leipzig, who claims that the murderer is actually a human possessed by the spirit of Magaera, one of Medusa's snake-haired sisters from Greek mythology. Together, Paul and Dr. Namaroff attempt to root out the incognito Gorgon while Paul courts lovely amnesiac Carla Hoffman (Barbara Shelley). Directed by Hammer veteran Terence Fisher, The Gorgon is one of several films to feature British horror mainstays Lee and Cushing side by side. In the States, the film appeared with The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb on a double bill promoted by the distribution of a unique giveaway item: black stamps. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Review
Talky and gothic, this atmospheric Hammer entry boasts one of the studio's most offbeat concepts and story lines. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are only the most popular of the many vets who enliven the philosophical detective work and occasional flashes of supernatural horror that make up the bulk of the 80-minute running time. Director Terence Fisher keeps the focus on the mob dynamics and pervasive suspicion that follow in the wake of unexplained deaths. The moody cinematography turns simple grey makeup into a chilling special effect. The plot is a bit convoluted and ultimately suspenseless, but the picturesque Balkan locale and the agonizing wait for the creature-feature money shot keep things interesting. That the action-packed, stop-motion finale is actually fairly weak in the effects department will probably only add to the picture's nostalgic appeal for fans of classic horror. Otherwise, The Gorgon is more interesting for its sublimated panic about female sexual empowerment and the deft way it turns a few plastic snakes and a lot of hand-wringing into solid entertainment. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Patrick Troughton - Kanof; Jeremy Longhurst - Bruno Heitz; Toni Gilpin - Sascha; Redmond Phillips - Hans; Joseph O'Conor - Coroner; Alister Williamson - Cass; Michael Peake - Policeman; Sally Nesbitt - Nurse; Prudence Hyman - Chatelaine; Jack Watson - Eatoff; Joyce Hemson
Credit
Don Mingaye - Art Director, Rosemary Burrows - Costume Designer, Terence Fisher - Director, Eric Boyd-Perkins - Editor, James Needs - Editor, James Bernard - Composer (Music Score), Roy Ashton - Makeup, Bernard Robinson - Production Designer, Michael Reed - Cinematographer, Anthony Nelson Keys - Producer, Syd Pearson - Special Effects, J. Liewellyn Devine - Screen Story, John Gilling - Screenwriter
In the rural German village of Vandorf, seven murders have been committed within the past five years, each victim having been petrified into a stone figure. Rather than investigate it, the local authorities dismiss the murders for fear of a local legend having come true. When a local girl becomes the latest victim and her suicidal lover made the scapegoat, the father of the condemned man decides to investigate and discovers that the cause of the petrifying deaths is a phantom. The very last of the snake-haired Gorgon sisters who haunts the local castle and turns victims to stone during the full moon.
