Gargoyles (1972 film)
Summary
"Watch out! The Gargoyles are here, and they're coming for you!" An anthropologist and his daughter disturb a monster's skeleton in Mexico.
Details
- Release Date: 1972
- Country/Language: US, English
- Genres/Technical: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Horror, made-for-TV
- Setting: 1970s New Mexico and Mexico desert
- Runtime: 1 hr 14 min
- Starring: Cornel Wilde, Jennifer Salt, Grayson Hall
- Director: Bill Norton
- Writer: Steven Karpf (as Stephen Karpf), Elinor Karpf
- Producer/Production Co: Tomorrow Entertainment, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
- IMDB page: (link)
- View Film: (link)
Ratings
MPAA Ratings
- Rated: (not rated) (perhaps equivalent of TV-PG for 1970s TV-friendlyviolence)
Tentacle Ratings
A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:
- S____ (One Tentacle: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)
Not very "Lovecraftian" on its face, though the mingling of myth/folklore and science, the Gargoyles as a hidden/secret race from the distant past surviving into modern times, and other elements of the story can be found in Lovecraft stories, and the film's plot could be easily converted into a basic "Lovecraftian" tale with only a minimal effort.
Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.
Reviews
Review Links:
- (link) - "This CBS Made for television fright film is still quite a gem today, it not only holds up to scrutiny as a classic representation of the kinds of horror films that were being produced in the 1970s... an amazing illustration of a low-budget film that [still] manages to inspire chills and entertain..."
Synopsis
Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)
A farmer in the southwestern US uncovers skeletal remains as evidence of an ancient, hidden race of monsters (a colony of living, breathing gargoyles who emerge from hiding every 500 years as a new generation prepared to exterminate and replace humanity as the dominant species on Earth) living in the desert and uses them in his a roadside attraction alongside "desert fish" and two-headed lizards. Some scientist/scholar-type investigators (an anthropologist/paleontologist/writer and his daughter) passing through the area stop take a look; the monsters suddenly appear during the examination of the remains to try to recover the sacred evidence, sparking a conflict between monsters (who are, for monsters, relatively thoughtful and rational, and by now weary of constant friction with the outside world, really just want to be left alone to raise their next generation in peace) and the researchers, police, and a mob who gather to fight the monsters.
Notes
Comments, Trivia, Dedication
Associated Mythos Elements
- race: Gargoyles
- tome: 5000 years of Demonology, a scholarly work on the subject of evil through the ages, including details on Gargoyles
- artifact: Gargoyle skeleton
Keeper Notes
- The Gargoyles can be roughly compared to Lovecraftian races like Ghouls, Deep Ones, Mi-Go, etc., and the film's basic plot can be used with only minor changes from Gargoyles to those other races.
