christopher-underwood A real plod, this one and although things perk up when Christopher Lee enters the tale properly, he really cannot save things, despite his 'famous five' like rushing about with such gusto. Peter Cushing seems bored and in truth his part is rotten, Barbara Shelley is just about okay but not really up to receiving such male attention. Now if that had been Barbara Steele in the role perhaps I could have been persuaded to engage a little more with the preposterous tale, so drably presented. Being repetitive with uninspired dialogue and flat direction does nothing to help raise this ridiculous story or even lift it to an interesting level more than once or twice throughout its entire ponderous length.

Nigel P From the opening credits, this could only ever be a Hammer film. James Bernard's trademark scores, a matte paining of a castle in the distance (which makes a very effective screensaver), a young girl in distress and Peter Cushing tinkering in an ornate laboratory: formulaic such an intro may be, but it produces an instant warm glow in retrospect – which is probably the polar opposite of the effect hoped for back in 1964.Wheeling in a fresh corpse, Nurse Hoffman (Barbara Shelley) is somewhat alarmed when the hand that falls from the stretcher breaks in half, as if it is made of stone. Pretty soon, the dead girl's bohemian fiancé has hung himself, revealed in close-up. The warm glow becomes distinctly frosty.So too, are the characters we meet in this production. On seeing the Medusa, or more specifically her glare, characters become aged. That is, they appear to be sprinkled with talcum powder in a cheap looking effect that is never convincing. Christopher Lee's Professor Karl Meister comes already doused in talc, to lend maturity to such a man of learning, pompous and aloof. Even the avuncular Cushing is starchy in this. Only Richard Pasco succeeds in injecting some naturalism into his role, the almost-hero Paul Heitz. We cry out for a Michael Ripper or a Miles Malleson cameo to lighten up the mood.Whilst professional and polished, the production is somewhat perfunctory, and there is a damning coolness to the sporadic 'scares' – whereas in reality, only the finale, with Barbara Shelley's transformation into the deadly Megaera, succeeds in providing any shivers, and the less than stellar realisation of the creature – complete with adorable plastic snakes - ensures that even the climactic scares are pretty bloodless (which, considering Hammer caused a sensation in the late 1950s with its blood red horror that in turn both repulsed and fascinated audiences, is disappointing). Like 'Curse of the Werewolf (1960)', the thrills are strictly confined to the last ten minutes, which is asking too much of this particular audience member.

classicsoncall I'm no Hammer Films maven by any means, so of the few I've seen I've generally been taken aback by the film makers' rather generous use of bold, bright colors. 1957's "The Curse of Frankenstein" is a case in point. When I began watching this picture it seemed that perhaps I had been generalizing this idea too much, but then all of a sudden, right in the middle of Dr. Namaroff's lab was this big, bright red couch! What was that all about?Well here's a tale of the Gorgon, a mysterious and deadly creature, the sight of which can turn the unsuspecting viewer to stone. With seven such deaths in the village of Vandorf over the past five years, it was rather intriguing to me why the villagers weren't the least bit curious to figure out what might have been going on. When the judge declared the deaths of Bruno Heitz and his fiancée a murder and suicide, the factual evidence that her body turned to stone never even came up! It's too bad the film's most likable character turned out to be the person possessed by the spirit of Maguera the Gorgon. Carla Hoffman (Barbara Shelley) was a genuinely sympathetic individual who didn't seem to have any idea that moon filled nights turned her into a monster. One would suspect that this would lead to a rocky relationship with the newly arrived brother Paul Heitz (Richard Pasco), who's idea of romance would soon be met with stony silence. By the time this movie was approaching it's finale, I found I couldn't help it with all manner of puns from intruding on my mind, so much so that a horrifying ending had to be taken for granite. Imagine my satisfaction when the Gorgon's final roll of the dice turned up snake eyes.

TheLittleSongbird The Gorgon may not be a personal favourite from Hammer, but it is still a film well worth watching, and along with Curse of the Werewolf it's among Hammer's most under-appreciated.Admittedly, the story is absurd and occasionally could have been more eventful. The ending felt rushed and abrupt. And while the Gorgon was scary at first, by the end she did look rather cheaply made-up and more goofy and menacing. The snakes agreed did look fake, and the true identity of the Gorgon was made a bit too obviously too early.On the other hand, the Gorgon aside, The Gorgon is quite well-done visually, with splendidly Gothic sets, sumptuous period detail, shadowy and bold lighting and beautiful and atmospheric photography. Fisher, the most frequent of Hammer's directors and for me their best, directs with a fine sense of atmosphere and dread, some parts are incredibly suspenseful, while not forgetting to make things fun too. Hammer regular James Bernard provides a music score that's jaunty but also booming with hauntingly thrilling effect, a highly effective score that fits with the mood like a glove.The script is poetic and thought-provoking, with a number of funny and menacing lines from Meister that don't feel out of place (Meister's line about using long words and his answer to Heitz's 'I've been ill' did get a good laugh). It also didn't feel too talky, like some Hammer films can do, and the suspense level is never dropped too much. As silly and absurd the story can be, it very rarely harms the atmosphere which is tense and unnerving and didn't feel too predictable. While the characters are not the most well-developed, they are ones that are not too hard to care for.It is because of the great performances from a talented cast that play a large part of as to why that is. Peter Cushing's dignity and restraint was very much appreciated and Christopher Lee performs with terrific gusto, and relishes his dialogue. Richard Pasco has fun too, Prudence Hyman horrifies as the Gorgon and Barbara Shelley has got to be Hammer's best ever femme fatale. Patrick Troughton, more than just a cameo this time, is great as well.All in all, The Gorgon is not flawless but it's a good film with a lot of merits, and has to be one of Hammer's most under-appreciated. 7/10 Bethany Cox