Gargoyles are a scientific fact. And they’re no more dangerous than a high school drop-out on a motorcycle.
Today on the Classic Movie Rev, we are taking on Gargoyles (1972).
This made-for-television movie is one of the greatest movies concerning gargoyles ever made. It won a Prime Time Emmy in 1973 for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup. The movie is rated a very low 6.2[1] on iMDB.com. The film is absolutely murdered on rottentomatoes.com, with 33 percent on the Tomatometer and 40 percent audience approval[2].
Scott Drebit of DailyDead.com said:
Pity the poor gargoyle, second tier (at the very least) in horror iconography, resigned to being stone portents in many a film, but never getting their creepy due. This brings us to CBS’ Gargoyles (1972), a TV movie that aimed to rectify that situation and give these mostly forgotten creatures a chance to shine through the filter of a demented Saturday morning vibe.
Originally broadcast as part of The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies, Gargoyles had to contend with the ABC Movie of the Week/Marcus Welby M.D. and NBC’s The Bold Ones: The New Doctors/NBC Reports.[3]
TV Guide.com gave this movie a 2 out of 4 rating. The article said in part:
“This made for TV movie, which debuted in ABC’s “Movie of the Week” slot, remains a cult item by virtue of strong performances and special effects by Stan Winston…
Veteran TV director B.W.L. Norton stages the preposterous events with considerable skill (though he shows the gargoyles too often and in too much detail; the suits don’t stand up to prolongued (sic) close examination), and the Carlsbad Caverns climax is a keeper.”[4]
It is my personal opinion that this movie is excellent. I mean the hunt gargoyles with horses, motorbikes, and dogs. There is even a part where a gargoyle leaps in the air, kicking men off the motorcycles and horses. A winged gargoyle even rides a horse. There is a drunken motel owner, and she is desperate to have sex. A young Scott Glenn is the leader of the bike riders, and the damsel in distress is always wearing a halter top. I mean, what’s not to like.
Actors – Gargoyles (1972)
Returning
Cornel Wilde was Dr. Mercer Boley, the all knowing and tough guy anthropologist. This great actor was first covered in the Film-Noir The Big Combo (1955).
Scott Glenn played motorcycle rider James Reeger. Glenn was first covered in The Challenge (1982).
New
Jennifer Salt played the halter top-wearing subject of the head gargoyles affection, Diana Boley. Salt was born in California in 1944. In New York, she attended the High School of Performing Arts and later graduated from Sarah Lawrence College.
One of her earlier roles was a small part in Midnight Cowboy (1969). She was in Play it Again, Sam (1972), about a man obsessed with Casablanca (1942), and Sisters (1972). On television’s “Soap” from 1977—1981, she played Eunice Tate.
Salt eventually left acting and began writing and producing. She has done quite well writing for television’s “Nip Tuck” from 2003—2010 and for “American Horror Story” from 2011—2015.
Bernie Casey was in the role of the winged head gargoyle that took a shine to a human girl. Casey was born in West Virginia in 1939. He graduated from high school in Columbus, Ohio. He earned a B.A. from Bowling Green State University while on an athletic scholarship.
Casey played wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers from 1961—1966 and the Los Angeles Rams from 1967—1968. After the NFL, he returned to Bowling Green State University and earned an M.A. Casey was an accomplished painter and poet.
Casey had a total of 35 movies beginning with Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969), a sequel to The Magnificent Seven (1960). His other films include Boxcar Bertha (1972), …tick…tick…tick (1970), Black Gunn (1972), Cleopatra Jones (1973), Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Sharky’s Machine (1981), and Never Say Never Again (1983).
I remember him best from two television movies and his later work, where he often played a strict or stern character. Of course, the two television movies are Brian’s Song (1971), I cried, and Gargoyles (1972). For some reason, Casey’s voice was overdubbed in Gargoyles (1972) by Vic Perrin.
His later films include the role of U.N. Jefferson in the now somewhat rapey Revenge of the Nerds (1984), Spies Like Us (1985), I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), the history teacher in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), Another 48 Hrs. (1990), and Under Siege (1992). Casey died in 2017.
Grayson Hall played the drunken, under-sexed motel owner, Mrs. Parks. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1922. Her mother was an actress that performed extensively in Yiddish theater. She began acting at an early age, and by the age of 20, she was working on the stage.
Hall began working on television in 1951. Her first movie was Run Across the River (1961), quickly followed by Satan in High Heels (1962). She had an amazing performance in an amazing film, The Night of the Iguana (1964). For this film, she was nominated for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar. A Disney flick followed this, That Darn Cat! (1965).
To me, Hall will always be Dr. Julia Hoffman from television’s “Dark Shadows” 1967—1971. Now we didn’t know it was a soap opera. We thought it was an afternoon horror show put on for use elementary students to watch until our older siblings came home. Jonathan Frid as vampire Barnabas Collins still fuels my nightmares.
Hall reprised her role from “Dark Shadows” in House of Dark Shadows (1970) and took another part in Night of Dark Shadows (1971). When one of these movies came to town, I don’t remember which, they were supposed to release a live bat in the theater before the movie. Most of her remaining work was on television, sometimes turning in a memorable performance, for example, the television movie Gargoyles (1972). Hall died in 1985.
Story – Gargoyles (1972)
The movie begins with narration telling how Lucifer and his followers were cast out of Heaven. It continues that the children of the cast-outs became the gargoyles. This is all done over appropriate images with angels becoming devils and then gargoyles. The gargoyles have a 600-year birth cycle. This long cycle gives humankind enough time to forget that the gargoyles are real.
Dr. Mercer Boley (Cornel Wilde) is waiting at an airport in Arizona to pick up his daughter Diana Boley (Jennifer Salt). She gets off the turboprop, rocking a red halter top. She is meeting her father to go on a trip to Mexico. He is an expert on demons, a university professor, and an author. I don’t think it ever said, but I’m going to assume he is an anthropologist.
Mercer does not believe in any of this occult mumbo jumbo. He tells Diana that they have to go see an old man in the desert before heading to Mexico. They turn off onto a dirt road. Mercer makes a wrong turn and has to stop. The shadow of a gargoyle is seen on the rocks above. It flies over the car, but they are not too concerned, never seeing the creature.
The old man’s place is one of those roadside shops that used to be common before the advent of the interstate. There are freaks like two-headed snakes you can pay to look at and lots of oddities to buy.
Uncle Willie (Woody Chambliss) scares Diana when he comes out of the back. Uncle Willie gives them beers, and Mercer is all business. Uncle Willie wants a book deal. Finally, he takes them to his shack and unveils the articulated skeleton of a flying gargoyle, complete with horns and claws. Mercer laughs in Uncle Willie’s face. Uncle Willie says the Indians named this place devil’s crossing. Apparently, the gargoyles attacked the Indians at one point.
Mercer decides to hear the story. Uncle Willie bolts the doors as it gets dark. Uncle Willie says the Native American word for it, nakatekachinko. Mercer records the story as Uncle Willie talks. They hear flapping and other noises outside. The shed is shaken, and the tin is ripped. Uncle Willie grabs the gargoyle skull, but he is crushed by a falling beam. A fire breaks out and kills him. Mercer grabs the skull and takes it with him. He and Diana make it to the station wagon as the shed explodes. A gargoyle’s hands are shown in the bushes.
Diana and Mercer speed down the dirt road. On the recorder, Diana plays the buzzing sounds the attacking gargoyles made. A gargoyle runs the car down and jumps onto the roof. Mercer’s anthropologist driving training allows him to throw the monster off the car.
Diana and Mercer limp the damaged car into a gas station where the vehicle can be fixed. The station attendant Buddy (Jim Connell), tells that there is a motel next door. Mercer looks at the rips in the roof as Diana picks the gargoyle head up to take with them.
The Cactus Motel is a series of adobe-style buildings. They meet the motel owner, Mrs. Parks (Grayson Hall). She has a drink in her hand. As she looks at Mercer, she starts fixing her hair and talking about how lonely she is living here. She invites Mercer for a nightcap, but he politely declines. Actually, it was Hall’s idea to have a drink in her hand in every scene she played.
In the morning, Diana sleeps late, but Mercer is up going over the tape recordings. Diana is wearing a baby doll nightgown. Mercer plans to have the skull carbon-dated when he gets back, but he estimates it to be 400-600 years old by eyeballing it. Diana insists on going to the police about Uncle Willie. Mercer says they will leave the part about the gargoyle skull out of the tale.
Mercer, Diana, Deputy Jesse (John Gruber), and the Police Chief (William Stevens) drive out to Uncle Willie’s place. Mercer tells Diana that the attackers are gone, but it seems they are being watched from the rocks. When they arrive at the burned shed, some dirt bikers are riding around and looking through the debris. The Police Chief zeros in on the riders as the killers of Uncle Willie. Some of the rides are caught at the scene, but two are perused by the Police Chief. Finally, the riders wreck and are caught. One of the five men is James Reeger (Scott Glenn). The Police Chief calls them a biker gang. Diana tries explaining that they are not bad riders. The fiver riders are arrested. She is mad at her father for not telling the entire truth.
That night Mercer wakes and begins listing to the tape again. He begins to hear noises. He doesn’t see anything and goes back to sleep. A gargoyle pops up at the foot of his bed. Diana tries to run into the bathroom, but there is another one in there. The two wingless gargoyles recover the skull, and Mercer chases them across the parking lot. They run across the highway, and the second gargoyle is mowed down by a truck. Mercer wants to help it as it dies but doesn’t know how.
Mercer brings the dead gargoyle back to his room. Diana is wearing a white halter top. Mercer says the creature is cold-blooded. Mercer recognizes it as a gargoyle that he has seen in drawings and carvings from many cultures. Mercer wants to take the gargoyle body to a lab in Los Angeles.
Mrs. Parks shows up with a drink in her hand and complains about all the noise that came from their room.
Diana goes to the police station, where the five men are being held. She wants to show the lawmen the evidence that the gargoyle killed Uncle Willie. Diana tells Gruber about the gargoyles, and they think she is a fool.
On the way back to the motel, Diana is stalked by gargoyles. Her father grabs her and brings her inside. Three wingless gargoyles attack the room, but Mercer and Diana have escaped out the window. They have loaded the dead gargoyle into the car.
The gargoyles attack the car pulling Diana out after they rip off the door and knocking Mercer out. The creatures flip the car over before ripping the tailgate off to retrieve their comrade. Diana is on the ground, and Mr. head gargoyle (Bernie Casey), who is winged, gets in her face. She passes out. He checks her over pretty good and is definitely out of bounds. The head gargoyle takes Diana with him. The others have the body and some of Mercer’s research material.
The head gargoyle brings Diana back to the cave in the rocks where they are hiding. Mrs. head gargoyle, who is also winged, gives him a stink face for bringing the human girl back. At least, I think it’s a stink face.
Mrs. Parks, who has a drink in her hand, runs to the police station. She tells the Police Chief what happened at the motel. She helps herself to another drink from the sheriff’s desk. Reeger tells what he learned from Diana about the gargoyles killing Uncle Willie. Mercer comes in and says it’s true, and they need to form a search party to find his daughter.
Reeger and his fellow riders volunteer to help search because all of the men in town are afraid to leave their families.
Back at the cave, Mrs. head gargoyle rips the shirt off Diana, exposing her white halter top. Mr. head gargoyle jumps in and saves her.
The Police Chief sends Mrs. Parks and Buddy to alert the state police. They get dogs and horses and prepare to move out with the motorcycle riders. Mercer gets a 12-gauge shotgun and drives the police jeep.
Mrs. Parks and Buddy are glad they are not on the search party. Then a gargoyle hand reaches up from the back of their truck.
Diana wanders through the cave, being watched continuously by gargoyles in the distance. Mr. head gargoyle says he wants her to teach him from her father’s books.
The search party follows the trail of the gargoyles. They stop for a break. Mercer says that drawings from different cultures show that they have lived alongside humans for a long time. He thinks the gargoyle incubation period is 400—500 years. Mercer also says they have been known to take human women.
Deputy Jesse rides back in because he has found Buddy’s truck running in the desert. They stop the truck, and the seat is smeared with blood, but there are no people around. The Police Chief says they should split up. No, wait. Two people have been murdered, and the bodies are missing; stay together.
In the cave, Mr. head gargoyle is looking through the books and says they have only been alive a few weeks. He falsely tells Diana that they mean no harm to humans.
Mrs. head gargoyle goes to the egg room to check on the recent hatchlings.
After nightfall, the search party is halted by a fouled plug. Then they notice the dead Mrs. Parks hanging from a telephone pole. She does not have a drink in her hand. Many people cite it as the scariest part of the film. Three of the bike riders leave. Reeger convinces Ray (Timothy Burns) to stay with the search.
Mrs. head gargoyle reports to Mr. head gargoyle that men, horses, and dogs are coming toward the cave. She says they need another day of hatching. Mr. head gargoyle decides that the humans should be stopped in the desert. He calls the whole band out to attack while he stands on a rock and poses with his wings spread laughing diabolically. It’s good to be the king.
The gargoyles attack Deputy Jesse and then motorcycle rider Ray. They then hit the jeep, being driven by Mercer. He kills three with the shotgun while some other gargoyles kill Ray. Mercer kills one more before his shotgun jams, and he is knocked down. The Police Chief comes charging in, blazing away with his six-shooter. The other gargoyles flee as the Police Chief and Reeger ride past Mercer.
Mercer is alone when Mr. head gargoyle rides in on the deputy’s horse. The gargoyle says he will take Mercer to his daughter if he leaves the shotgun behind. Once the gargoyle gets Mercer in the cave, he tells him that he will be a hostage. Mr. head gargoyle says the eggs have begun hatching after 500 years. Of course, this is different than what was said in the intro. Mr. head gargoyle throws Mercer into a pit.
In a Bond villain move, Mr. head gargoyle leaves Mercer alone. The gargoyle makes Diana read him dirty stories about incubuses. He says he doesn’t like her like that; he is just curious. Mrs. head gargoyle slinks around the corner.
Mercer finds the egg chamber and walks right in. Mrs. head gargoyle grabs his hand and says, Diana. She leads him to Diana. Mr. head gargoyle is being date rapey. Mr. head gargoyle drags Diana away down another tunnel. Mrs. head gargoyle helps Mercer follow his daughter. A younger gargoyle chases after him. Mercer kills it with a rock.
Mercer finds his way out of the cave. The Police Chief, Deputy Jesse, and Reeger show up in the police jeep. He tells about the eggs. Reeger says he will go back into the cave with Mercer to burn the eggs with gas that was in the back of the jeep. The law people are waiting below to make sure that the gargoyles don’t get away with Diana.
Mercer and Reeger go into the cave using the shotgun and a pistol to kill gargoyles. Reeger sets the eggs on fire, but it seems like he lost his life in the flames.
Mr. and Mrs. head gargoyle come out of the cave entrance with Diana. Mercer comes out right behind and tries to free his daughter. Mr. head gargoyle swats him away. Since the gargoyle couple are both winged breeders, they can lay new eggs, and he can still carry Diana away.
Mercer takes a rock and smashes Mrs. head gargoyle wing. Mr. head gargoyle now has the choice of carrying his mate or his would-be girlfriend. Of course, if he doesn’t carry his mate, the gargoyle species will die out. The police start shooting. Mr. head gargoyle compliments Mercer on his move and then flies away with his mate. Mercer and Diana watch them fly.
I’ll be right back with conclusions and the World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Summary – Gargoyles (1972)
Wikipedia states that:
“In architecture, and specifically in Gothic architecture, a gargoyle (/ˈɡɑːrɡɔɪl/) is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof…”[5].
So, no matter how grotesque the monster on the building is, unless water gargles out of its mouth, it is not a gargoyle.
World-Famous Short Summary – You lay off that pet shop dame. Women weaken legs.
Beware the moors
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068622/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1087485-gargoyles
[3] https://dailydead.com/it-came-from-the-tube-gargoyles-1972/
[4] https://www.tvguide.com/movies/gargoyles/2000046907/
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargoyle
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