The Gorgon Reviews

One of director Terence Fisher's most atmospheric films and one of his personal favorites, THE GORGON, set in Austria circa 1910, opens as a professor ventures to the mysterious town of Vandorf to investigate the suicide of his youngest son. Given the cold shoulder by the police, citizens, and local surgeon Namaroff (Peter Cushing), the professor enters the ruins of a local castle where he encounters Megaera--the legendary Gorgon whose gaze turns men to stone. Afflicted but still alive, the professor manages to warn his eldest son, Paul (Richard Pasco), about the Gorgon before dying. Paul continues the investigation accompanied by his mentor, the skeptical Prof. Meister (Christopher Lee). The duo attempt to interview Namaroff, but are rebuffed. This makes Meister suspicious, while Paul is quite taken with Namaroff's beautiful assistant, Carla (Barbara Shelley). Although Paul falls in love with her, Meister remains distrustful of the girl, and when he manages to sneak a look at Namaroff's papers, he learns that Carla--an amnesiac--is actually the Gorgon. Knowing that Paul and Carla have arranged to meet at the ruins, Meister rushes to the site to prevent his pupil from being turned to stone. Although the Gorgon itself is kept off-screen through most of the movie and, once revealed, is somewhat disappointing (the snakes in the hair aren't very convincing), Fisher imbues his film with a sense of deep guilt, unease, and palpable dread. Both Lee and Cushing turn in fine performances, as does the beautiful Shelley as the young woman unknowingly possessed by the spirit of the mythological Gorgon.