The Gorgon

Lore & Background

The film is set in Germany in 1910. The village of Vandorf has suffered seven murders in five years; each victim has been turned to stone. The murders are the work of the Gorgon Megaera, a creature whose face can turn human skin to stone. Megaera's spirit haunts Castle Borski and occasionally takes over the body of a human being. The plot follows Professor Jules Heitz, his son Paul, Dr. Namaroff, and Professor Karl Meister as they confront the creature.

In Their Own Story

The lights flicker as you step into the main corridor. The air is thick with the smell of ozone and decay. A distant scream echoes from the crew quarters, followed by the wet, dragging sound of something heavy hauled across the floor. You check your weapon—a pistol with three rounds left. A nearby computer terminal flickers to life, displaying a garbled message: 'They are in the vents. Don't trust the walls.' Suddenly, a mutant bursts from a service hatch, its flesh fused with rusted metal plating, one eye bulging, one arm a whirring saw blade. You fire, but the shot only slows it. The Gorgon is alive, and it is hungry.

Reader's Guide

The film was distributed in the United Kingdom by Columbia Pictures/BLC Films on 18 October 1964, supported by The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb. It was released in the United States by Columbia Pictures on 17 February 1965, also supported by The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb. The film holds a 67% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Did You Know?

• The Gorgon was based on a story submitted to Hammer by their Canadian fan J. Llewellyn Divine.
• Director John Gilling and producer Anthony Nelson Keys expanded on Divine's outline, developing it into a screenplay.
• For the role of the monster, former ballerina Prudence Hyman was recruited because the monster was supposed to float gracefully like a wraith.
• Filming occurred at Bray Studios in Berkshire.
• The Gorgon was adapted into a 17-page comics story by Scott Goodall, with art by Trevor Goring and Alberto Cuyas, published in The House of Hammer issues #11 and 12 in August and September 1977.