.jpg "The Gorgon (1964)")
The Gorgon (1964)
Ok what does this movie have? Well, Christopher Lee (as a good guy!), Peter Cushing (as a bad guy! sort of), the "Hammer Hamlet"" pre-Doctor Who Patrick Troughton, Barbara Shelley, an angry mob, a monster, basically it hits all the notes. But does it is hit them right?
The plot features a bunch of seemingly random murders. The odd thing is that the murder victims are all turned to stone. Peter Cushing is out local doctor covering up for the murders, but we don't see why till the very end.
Lee is the friend of a family where one brother is blamed for the murders, his father is later turned to stone while investigating, and the last brother comes to investigate and falls in love with Barbara Shelley's Carla.
We learn through various sources that the spirit of "Megeara" one of the last Gorgon sisters haunts this small village in Germany. The three Gorgons were named Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. Megeara must have sounded better to them.
Turns out Megeara's spirit is living on in Carla and every full moon she is released again on the world.
Believe it or not, I have never seen this movie till tonight.
There are a TON of liberties taken with the ancient Greek myth, but honestly that is fine. I am more annoyed they went with Megeara instead of Stheno or Euryale.
Featured Monster: Medusa
I think it is a bit obvious that the art in the Monster Manual was very inspired by this movie.
There is even some evidence that the Medusa of D&D is also based on this movie to a degree. Not the spirit or the coming out at the full moon, but the general behavior.
The great thing about this movie? It takes a classical mythology monster and gives it a solid horror feel to it in the special Hammer way. If you want a good working template on how to add horror to your games, this is a good place to start.
Of course, and this is an old gripe of mine, why is the monster called a Medusa and not a Gorgon? More to the point why is there also a bull-like creature called a Gorgon in the MM?
There is a "Gorgon" in a 1607 Bestiary by Edward Topsell titled "The Historie of Foure-Footed Beastes." Note, the link here is to the revised and combined Beasts, Insects, and Serpents and is over 1000 pages.
That looks like our bull-Gorgon sure enough. I am sure that this is creature Gygax had in mind. And he said as much [1][2][3].
Two monsters for the price of one? No. I'll keep this one for the Medusa.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2024
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First Time Views: 3
1 comment:
This is the first of this series I've actually seen, and I hated it. Just seemed (to me) to miss the mark on every occasion. Enjoying this series and looking forward to the balance of the month.
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