cinema history class: the gorgon (1964)

The session: "Vamps, Gorgons and Reptiles -- The Wicked Women of Hammer!"
We watch Hammer films featuring female monsters.

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Week 2: The Gorgon (1964)
Directed by Terence Fisher

My Impressions Going In:
I had never heard of this.

Plot:
A gorgon is terrorizing a mountain town in Germany. The locals want it kept a secret to protect the tourist trade.

Reaction and Other Folderol:
I have to confess here that I let too much time pass before trying to write about this movie -- life is hectic. As a results, I've kind of forgotten way too much about it. If not for the fact that I want this blog to maintain a record of what we've been seeing at Keith's, I would probably just skip this entry. I'll try to be more timely, but I make no promises. And, of course, I am still behind so there will be a few more thin posts.

But I suppose that is a good indication of my reaction. I enjoyed it, but it didn't really make a strong impression on me. There is one thing that stands out for me. In all other gorgon stories that I recall, the victim turns to stone pretty much immediately after looking into the gorgon's eyes. In this telling, there's kind of a delayed effect. So we get to hear one character describe what it feels like to be turning to stone. It kind of reminded me of a particularly compelling scene from 1932's The White Zombie, in which one character knows what is happening to him as he turns into a zombie. I always loved that element of the 1932 movie, and I loved it here.

But that one element aside, there's really not much from this movie that stayed with me.

Ratings
Me: 7
Bob-O: 9.5
Christina: 9.5
Dave: 9.8
Ethan: 8.5
Joe: 10