It’s Monday, you know what that means… that’s right it’s time for another installment of Review Stew! Hope you like your horror movies with extra cheese because this week we are chock full of cheesiness with… Gargoyles (1972).
Title: Gargoyles
Director: Bill L. Norton
Released: November 21, 1972 – Television premiere (United States)
Runtime: 1 hour 14 minutes
Available to stream on: Tubi and Youtube
The movie kicks off with a story about gargoyles and how they’re born from Satan and pop up every 600 years to take on humanity.
Dr. Mercer (Cornel Wilde) and his daughter, Diana (Jennifer Salt) are headed out to New Mexico to investigate reports of strange occurrences. They happen upon Uncle Willie’s Desert Museum where Willie shows them a skeleton. This isn’t just any old skeleton though, this is the skeleton of a gargoyle.
Uncle Willie tries to convince them that the skeleton is real. As that’s happening, screeching echoes from the rooftop and the creature’s wings wind up starting a fire. While trying to escape, Uncle Willie unfortunately catches a wooden beam in the face, knocking him out cold. His museum burns to the ground with him inside of it.
The next night, the gargoyles attack again. This time they wind up capturing Diana and whisking her away to their caves.
Will Diana and the gargoyles be able to come to some sort of an understanding?
Or will her capture be the beginning of the gargoyles taking over?
Is Gargoyles (1972) a good movie? No, not by any stretch of the imagination.
It is a low-budget made-for-TV movie and it owns it. The quality of the writing and the acting are exactly what you’d expect.
However, where Gargoyles (1972) shines is in the costume and makeup departments. Say what you will about the story or the acting, and believe me there’s plenty to say, but the gargoyle costumes and makeup are what salvage this movie.
While the gargoyle suits might look a tad bit silly at times, they’re pretty impressive given the time and that this was such a low budget movie. Kudos to costumer Thomas S. Dawson. Also, I’m all for practical effects, so I really dug the work here by visual effects artists Ellis Burman Jr. and Stan Winston.
Will this change your world after seeing it? More than likely not.
But as long as you have your vice of choice on hand and/or a group of friends, Gargoyles (1972) will wind up being a fun time.
So, if you have seen Gargoyles (1972), what did you think?
Leave a comment below or reach out on Bluesky and let me hear it!
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