The Gorgon
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The Gorgon is a 1964 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher for Hammer.
It stars Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley and Richard Pasco. The film was photographed by Michael Reeves, and designed by Bernard Robinson. For the haunting score James Bernard combined a soprano with a little-known electronic instrument called the Novachord. The film marks one of the few occasions when Hammer turned to Greek mythology for inspiration; this time it is the legend of the Gorgon that is respun for the Hammer audiences. The film was not generally well-received either by critics or Hammer fans.
[edit] Trivia
- The Gorgon herself is called Megaera, although according to classical mythology, Megaera was not a Gorgon at all. In fact, of the three Gorgons named in the film - Megaera, Persephone, and Medusa - only Medusa was actually a Gorgon in classical Greek mythology. The other two should be properly named Stheno and Euryale. (The Gorgon in the film would be one of these last two, Medusa having been slain by Perseus centuries before.)
- In the German dubbed version of this movie (called Die brennenden Augen von Schloss Bartimore) the correct names of the three Gorgons - Medusa, Stheno and Euryale - are used instead of a direct translation of the original English dialogue.
- The Gorgon was played in the film by Prudence Hyman.
- The script was novelized by John Burke as part of his The Hammer Horror Omnibus paperback in 1966.
[edit] External link
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) • The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960) • The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) • The Phantom of the Opera (1962) • The Kiss of the Vampire (1962) • The Devil-Ship Pirates (1963) • The Gorgon (1964) • Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966) • The Plague of the Zombies (1966) • The Reptile (1966) • The Witches (1966) • The Devil Rides Out (1967) • Hands of the Ripper (1971) • Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) • Countess Dracula (1971) • Vampire Circus (1972) • To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
