One of the finest Hammer Horror films, The Gorgon tweaks the formula and adds a shade more depth to the usual Hammer fare. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing star, but their roles are reversed--instead of Lee as the heavy and Cushing as the kindly protagonist, Lee plays a kind of swaggering sleuth/professor and Cushing plays a jealous doctor protecting a dark secret at all costs. The German town of Vandorf has been plagued by a series of mysterious murders over the last five years that none of the townsfolk want to acknowledge. The victims are all found turned to stone. An investigation by unwelcome outsiders reveals that the spirit of a mythological Gorgon roams the surrounding forest, and they must discover how to destroy it. What gives the film its layer of depth though, is the way the relationships of the characters play out--an entire town colluding based on fear, two family deaths leaving one son left, a tragic romance. It's not that these are all deep threads within the film, but they add something to it, a bit of tragedy and ambiguity perhaps that is lacking in many of the ol' good vs evil romps that Hammer was known for. The medusa-head effects, infamously criticized by Christopher Lee, are pretty terrible, but that's really the only negative. The remainder of the production is very polished. A top-notch, enjoyable adventure from Hammer. If nothing else, watch it for Cushing and Lee together.
8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment