The Gorgon is a 1964 horror in which the titular creature takes on human form and terrorises a German village by turning its citizens to stone.
The movie was directed by Terence Fisher from a screenplay by John Gilling (director of Night Caller from Outer Space, The Reptile, The Plague of the Zombies). The plot was loosely inspired by the legend of the Gorgon from Greek mythology.
The Gorgon was directly based on a story submitted to Hammer by their Canadian fan J. Llewellyn Divine. Director John Gilling and producer Anthony Nelson Keys expanded on Divine’s outline, developing it into a screenplay.For the role of the monster, former ballerina Prudence Hyman was recruited because the monster was supposed to float gracefully like a wraith.
The Hammer Films production stars Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley and Richard Pasco. Future Doctor Who Patrick Troughton (The Omen; Scars of Dracula) also appears.
The film was photographed by Michael Reed, and designed by Bernard Robinson. For the soundtrack score, James Bernard combined a soprano with a little-known polyphonic synthesizer instrument, the Hammond Novachord.
Plot [contains spoilers]:
Germany 1910: The village of Vandorf has suffered seven murders in five years. Each victim has been turned to stone.
In an old millhouse within a forest, Sascha Cass tells her artist boyfriend Bruno Heitz that she is carrying his child. Wanting to stand up to his obligations, Bruno races off into the night to see Sascha’s father despite her pleas for him not to go. She races after Bruno, but soon loses him in the forest. There, she finds a creature, looks into its face and dies.
Upon examination of the body, Doctor Namaroff, a brain specialist at the Vandorf Medical Institution, discovers that Cass has turned to stone. Bruno is later found hanged in the forest. An inquest decides that it is a case of murder and suicide by Bruno, and Namaroff does not reveal the condition of Cass’ corpse.
The villagers, feeling robbed of any vengeance, attack Bruno’s father, Professor Jules Heitz. The police department’s officers warn Jules to leave Vandorf, but he refuses to go until Bruno’s name is cleared. Jules knows that a conspiracy of silence has been set up and that the villagers do not believe the true cause. He believes that the murders are the result of something inhuman from Ancient Mythology. Its spirit haunts Castle Borski; the Gorgon Megaera, is a creature whose face can turn human skin to stone.
Jules contacts his friend Professor Meister of Leipzig University, who is also his son Paul’s tutor. Paul leaves to see Jules. That night, Jules is drawn to Borski Castle by a calling sound. There, he sees Megaera’s face. He staggers back to the millhouse, and, whilst turning to stone, outlines a letter to Paul mentioning Megaera. Paul arrives and learns of Jules’s death. Namaroff’s assistant Carla Hoffman visits him at the millhouse and secretly reads Jules’s letter. She later recites what she can remember of it to Namaroff. Warden Ratoff then reports that Martha, a violent inmate, has escaped the Institution. Namaroff reveals to Carla that Megaera’s spirit exists and occasionally takes over the body of a human being.
That night, Paul is drawn outside the millhouse by a sound and glimpses upon Megaera’s reflection in the garden pool. He wakes five days later in the Institution, aged by ten years. To destroy Megaera, Paul returns to the millhouse. Namaroff has Carla followed by Ratoff. That night, there is a full moon. Under it, Paul visits the graveyard and exhumes Jules’s body and discovers that it is solid stone. Carla silently watches him. She eventually confides to Paul that Namaroff is in love with her and that she is terrified of him. Paul promises to take her away with him when Megaera is dead. But Carla fears it will be too late by then.
Meister arrives at the millhouse to see Paul. Meanwhile, Martha dies soon after being recaptured by Ratoff. Meister and Paul visit Inspector Kanof. They force him to reveal that Carla arrived in Vandorf as an amnesiac prior to the first murder.
Meeting in secret at Castle Borski the next morning, Carla tells Paul that she will go away with him to safety, but it must be right now. He refuses and she runs off. Paul runs after her and is attacked by a waiting Ratoff, whom Meister scares off.
Meister believes that Carla becomes an amnesiac during the full moon. It is during that period that Megaera’s spirit enters her body. Paul agrees with Carla that she must leave immediately and that he will follow later when the mystery is solved. Later that day, Paul cables Leipzig where Carla is supposed to have arrived by train, but there is no sign of her.
That night he goes to Castle Borski as a full moon is rising. There amidst the Castle ruins, Namaroff awaits with a sword for Carla’s arrival. He attacks Paul, and they fight while Megaera appears. Namaroff tries to behead Megaera, but looks upon her face and is turned to stone. Using Namaroff’s sword, Meister beheads Megaera – but it is too late to save Paul, who has seen Megaera’s face. Slowly turning to stone, Paul looks upon Megaera’s severed head as her features change to that of Carla.
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Critical reception in 1964:
Variety wrote: “Though written and directed on a leisurely note, The Gorgon is a well-made, direct yarn that mainly gets its thrills through atmosphere. The period storyline is simple and predictable, but John Gilling has turned out a well-rounded piece and Terence Fisher’s direction is restrained enough to avoid any unintentional yocks.”
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: ” …there are too many red-herrings indicative of the script’s straining after horrific effect (the mad woman, the brain transplantation, etc.). The trouble is that one is never really in doubt as to who the Gorgon is. Also, as in Hammer’s stablemate, The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, the monster’s appearance is belated, vague and insufficiently spectacular. Still, it makes a change from vampires, and though the film has little genuine flair for atmosphere it is quite well acted by Richard Pasco and an appropriately blank-eyed, statuesque Barbara Shelley.”
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Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca
Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca
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Other media:
A novelisation of the film was written by John Burke as part of his 1966 book The Hammer Horror Film Omnibus.
Production:
The budget was a mere £150,000.
In 1977, the film was adapted into a ten-page comic strip for the magazine The House of Hammer (volume 1, no. 11 and 12, published by Top Sellers Limited). It was drawn by Alberto Cuyas from a script by Scott Goodall.
Cast and characters:
Christopher Lee … Professor Karl Meister; Peter Cushing … Doctor Namaroff; Richard Pasco … Paul Heitz; Barbara Shelley … Carla Hoffman/Magera; Michael Goodliffe … Professor Jules Heitz; Patrick Troughton … Inspector Kanof; Joseph O’Conor … The Coroner; Prudence Hyman … Gorgon; Jack Watson (Schizo) … Ratoff; Redmond Phillips … Hans; Jeremy Longhurst … Bruno Heitz; Toni Gilpin … Sascha Cass; Joyce Hemson … Martha; Alister Williamson … Janus Cass; Michael Peake … Constable
Country of origin:
UK
Technical specs:
1 hour 23 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1.66: 1
Trailer:
Free to watch online on YouTube [480p] although regions vary (get a VPN and YouTube Premium for no ads):
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