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The Gorgon
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The Gorgon (1964) More at IMDbPro »

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The Gorgon (1964) -- In a Balkan village, a professor investigates the suicide of his youngest son. No one is willing to help the professor, so he enters the ruins of a local castle where he encounters the legendary Gorgon whose gaze turns men to stone.

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Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   1,197 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 40% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
J. Llewellyn Devine (story)
John Gilling (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Gorgon on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
17 February 1965 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
A Monster With the Power to Turn Living Screaming Flesh Into Stone! more
Plot:
In early-twentieth-century middle-Europe, villagers are literally becoming petrified. Although the authorities... more | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
DVD releases for Tuesday October 14, 2008
 (From QuietEarth. 14 October 2008, 12:35 PM, PDT)

User Reviews:
A cinematic painting--a Gothic story in the genuine 19th century mode. more (52 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited 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
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Additional Details

Runtime:
83 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound Recording)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Actress Barbara Shelley, who played the possessed heroine, Carla Hoffmann, wanted to play the part of the gorgon as well for continuity, and suggested to producer Anthony Nelson Keys that she use a special wig with live green garden snakes woven into it for a more realistic effect. Her idea was rejected by Keys due to budget and time considerations. When Keys saw the abysmal gorgon effects in the finished film, he told Shelley that he should have listened to her suggestion. As Christopher Lee quips, "The only thing wrong with "The Gorgon" is the gorgon!" more
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. more

FAQ

Who were the Gorgons?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
Does Megaera have real snakes in her hair?
more
18 out of 19 people found the following review useful.
A cinematic painting--a Gothic story in the genuine 19th century mode., 18 May 2006
9/10
Author: BrentCarleton

Those who tiresomely belabor the inadequacy of the snakes on the Gorgon's head at the film's conclusion entirely miss the point. It is not surprising in our cretinous era that some would lament the unavailability of computer generated special effects in 1964. That they persist in doing so, however, only serves to illustrate how very far these modernists are in both sensibility and aesthetic principles from the 19th century Gothic tradition that this film so faithfully seeks to reproduce. The point isn't the snakes but the psychological force behind the baleful facial expression!

In this connection, it is appropriate to observe that Terence Fisher was absolutely right in considering this one of his best films.

And make no mistake: this film is very much in the 19th century Gothic tradition in both story and atmosphere. In that sense, it may be compared to a story by Ludwig Tieck, while its visuals hearken back to the paintings of Jacob van Ruisdael.

Visually, it is among Hammer's most accomplished productions. Michael Reed's effective photographic renderings include: a nocturnal cemetery festooned with fluttering autumnal leaves, the viscerally chilly, fog and frost bitten ravine (you can almost watch your own breath smoke in merely watching it) where a hanged man is discovered, the vast shadowed Castle Borski depicted under a full moon with scudding clouds, to name but a few.

And Mr. Reed is ably abetted by production designer Bernard Robinson whose key piece in this film: the deserted inside of the self-same Castle Borski is a marvel of tattered armorial flags, dust laden furniture, and sinister mirrors. The musical score is also one of Hammer's best and most effectively understated.

But the film belongs to the incomparably lovely Barbara Shelley's "Carla Hoffman"--she of the sweeping pelisse seated on a gilded throne in the deserted castle. It is to be hoped that someday this accomplished beauty will receive all the retrospective attention surely due her. For now, suffice it to say, that few actresses in the history of cinema have constructed a portrayal so wholly and precariously based on an enigma, an enigma Miss Shelley consistently reveals in every gesture, expression and nuance, without allowing her character, "Carla" the possibility of even understanding it herself.

It isn't merely that her Carla is fatally charming and alluring, but decent and humanitarian as well, a victim, to be sure, but not at all in the degraded, naturalistic way that Jean Seberg's portrayal is in "Lilith" a film to which "The Gorgon" is frequently compared.

Much can always be found to admire in anything Miss Shelley does. For now let us just close with a passing note on her deportment, the absolute self control she exercises in her throaty, perfectly modulated voice and carriage. Would that actresses today would study her technique !!!!!!!!!!!

Watch her in her first confrontation scene with Peter Cushing in his parlor, where she accuses him of stonewalling during the inquest, just prior to the entrance of Paul's father--Professor Heinz. Merely observing her majestically exit the room after being introduced to the Professor is worth the whole price of admission!

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