Gargoyles

Gargoyles (1972)

A professor, Dr. Boley, who studies the occult (to mostly debunk it and sell books) is in Arizona on a trip to study legends from the region. His daughter joins him, and together they drive out to meet an old man who says he has made a discovery, which turns out to be the skeleton of some strange winged creature. At first Boley is dismissive, but after the building is attacked, the old man killed, and his car is disabled he suspects that something strange is going on. It seems that Demons (Gargoyles) have begun to hatch and are trying to remain hidden until their numbers are great enough to attack the human race. It is up to Dr. Boley and the residents of the local small town to do battle with the Demons, who also have taken Boley’s daughter hostage.

This is one of those movies that I remember watching on the late night creature feature shows when I was growing up. It used to scare the crap out of me, and while it isn’t as scary to a 40 plus year old John as it was to a 7-year-old John I still enjoyed it. The story is a pretty creepy take on the whole fall of Lucifer and his hatred of mankind. That and there are a few scenes that are effective and creepy, which is pretty damn amazing for a Television movie. But this is back in the day when the movie of the week was treated like a low budget movie, and it shows in the quality. Speaking of creepy there is something about the scene where they find the truck driving in circles in the desert and you realize that they are all alone without help coming that still sends a chill down my spine. This is one of those scenes that has always stuck with me and probably contributed to my love for all things horror.

This is a creature feature so lets talk about some special effects. One of the things that most everyone remembers about this movie is the look of the creatures. The lead Gargoyle (who gets most of the screen time) looks incredibly cool. They didn’t have much of a budget being that this is a television movie, and I’m still amazed by how well the Gargoyles turned out. In addition to the lead some of the others look pretty good as well, though there are a few that they keep way in the back that are a bit weak (ala the later Planet of the Apes movies). Still this is impressive feat for such a production to pull off. But then again is it any wonder since this is an early effort by Stan Winston! Good stuff.

They just don’t make them like this anymore. I remember when TV movies used to kick butt. Gargoyles, the Kolchack movies, and so many others used to make the movie of the week something to look forward to. Now all you get are terrible 2 hour-long soap operas on Lifetime or real crime movies about the trial you just saw on CNN… I miss the old days. So do yourself a favor and track down this blast from the past. I highly recommend Gargoyles.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer