The Gorgon (1964)

The Gorgon is a British horror film first released in 1964, directed by Terence Fisher.  The film stars Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Richard Pasco, Barbara Shelley and Michael Goodliffe.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


The mist-shrouded village of Vandorf harbours an ancient evil of which no one dares speak, even when a series of mysterious deaths begins, reviving memories of an old and terrifying legend.  When his father dies immediately after sending him a bizarre letter, Paul Heitz journeys to the village to investigate but finds the locals strangely unwilling to cooperate with him.  One evening, he glimpses the face of a hideous monster, reflected in a pool of water.  Having recovered from a near-fatal relapse, Paul finds that he has aged prematurely and realises that what he saw was the face of Magaera, one of the Gorgons of Greek mythology.  It was the sight of this monstrosity that destroyed his father, transforming him into a stone statue.  With the help of his esteemed colleague Professor Karl Meister, Paul discovers that the village’s chief surgeon, Dr Namaroff, is concealing some terrible secrets which could reveal the identity of the Gorgon.  As Meister struggles to resolve the mystery, Paul embarks on a love affair with Namaroff’s assistant, Carla, not realising that she holds the key to the mystery...

The Gorgon was one of Hammer’s earliest and more laudable attempts to extend their popular Gothic horror formula beyond the narrow confines of the traditional horror icons, Dracula, Frankenstein, et al.  Its success at the box office encouraged the company to take bigger risks – notably with The Reptile (1966) and The Plague of the Zombies (1966) – thereby maintaining the public’s appetite for low budget Gothic horror thrills.

The film marked a return to form for director Terence Fisher who, after a series major disappointments, found himself inspired to make one of the best films of his career.  Here, he was aided and betted by horror stalwarts Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee -  the first time they had all worked together since Hammer’s The Mummy (1959).  Cushing plays a role that is perhaps a little too close to his Baron Frankenstein (slicing up human brains and being generally sinister), so it is a treat so see  Lee cast against type as the bumbling hero, a kind of Peter Cook version of Van Helsing.  Unusually, the best performances are provided not by the bill-topping stars but by the less well-known supporting artistes, although, in true Hammer fashion, an awful lot of scenery gets chewed up along the way.  Outshining both Lee and Cushing is a young Richard Pasco, who went on to have a remarkable stage career subsequently, notably with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Fisher rated The Gorgon as one of his best films, and it certainly stands up better than many of Hammer’s horror offerings.  Some stunning work from art designer Don Mingaye and cinematographer Michael Reed effectively conjure up a bleak dreamlike Gothic landscape, where every shadow appears to harbour a deathly terror and fear is so tangible you can almost smell it.  It matters not that the titular Gorgon is singularly unimpressive when she is revealed to us in all her Hellish glory (cheap plastic snakes on springs are a poor substitute for stop motion animation).  The film’s relentlessly creepy atmosphere and the suggestion of a terrifying menace skulking unseen behind the velvet drapes are enough to send a shiver down the spine and give you recurring nightmares.

The Gorgon is atypical for Hammer in that it concentrates much less on the corporeal threat of a lumbering monster and more on the human implications.  There is less traditional horror and more of the classic Gothic romance, enabling the star-crossed lovers admirably played by Richard Pasco and Barbara Shelley to invest the story with genuine pathos and humanity.  The drama is much more effective, and the film much more frightening, when it involves characters we care about.  Does any other Hammer horror film have a more poignant ending than this one?  The Gorgon probably will not petrify you but she may bring a tear to your eye.

© James Travers 2010

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