The Gorgon" is an eerie and haunting film in the traditional Hammer style, but also a film with an uncharacteristically downbeat, existential theme. The screenplay by John Gilling (from a story by J. Llewellyn Devine) is set in the small German town of Vandorf, which seems to harbour a mysterious secret and where the local doctor, Dr. Namaroff (Peter Cushing) and his assistant Carla (Barbara Shelley) seems to be hushing up a series of bizarre murders. When one of his students gets caught in the Vandorf mystery professor Karl Meister (Christopher Lee) of Leipzig University arrives to assist. He discovers that the murdered people were petrified -literally turned to stone - and is soon convinced that Megaera, one of the mythic Gorgons is haunting the village and the nearby castle Borski.
Directed by Terence Fisher "The Gorgon" eschews conventional Hammer scares for a considered and atmospheric approach. Fisher manages to give the film a strange beauty and an air of existential sadness, by using some relatively simple touches such as Magaera's siren-call eerily echoing through the forests and her reflection spookily rippling on the waters of a small pool. There is a precise gothic feel running through Fisher's look for the film, with cinematographer Michael Reed supplying some lovely autumnal forest shot and rich, lush yet somber interiors. The effects for Megaera's "snake-hair" isn't great by modern standards and Fisher wisely shoots the Gorgon from a distance (for the most part) and manages to distract in the close shots with clever use of some lurid green makeup effects. The actors are all on decent form and despite it not being one of the great Cushing / Lee team-ups the pair still sparkle. Cushing gives a shifty performance as the doctor who knows more than he lets on while Lee dominates as the no nonsense professor who isn't going to let anyone or anything get in his way. Barbara Shelley also does well and at one stage looks beautifully iconic sitting on a throne-like chair in Castle Borski. "The Gorgon" is both a good and interesting film, with an uncharacteristic feel, but with the usual high standard of Hammer production look and design. The "monster" is original and whereas the film isn't amongst Hammer's very best, it is still a pretty good and always fun effort. ( )