Back in 1972, GARGOYLES, a TV movie, premiered on ABC’s Movie of the Week. Who would have guessed that a TV movie from that period would have cult appeal 30 years later. One of the big draws for this TV movie was it featured the rubbery creations of Stan Winston. Winston later went on to fame by designing the effects chores for ALIENS, PREDATOR, THE TERMINATOR and other big budget films. His gargoyle designs steal the show and are actually more fun to watch then his creatures from THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. GARGOYLES is not truly a horror film (although it has it’s moments), its more of a monster film and has more in common with the Godzilla series than that of THE EXORCIST. VCI Home Video acquired the rights for a GARGOYLES DVD release and they wisely play up the campy cult elements on their DVD packaging and marketing.

The film was directed by Bill (MORE AMERICAN GRAFFITTI) Norton who also has an abundance of experience with made for TV movies. The script was by Steven and Elinor Karph, the people responsible for scripting another infamous made for TV movie, DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL. The film features Cornell (THE NORSEMAN) Wilde in the lead role as Dr. Mercer Boley, an anthropologist who also writes books about the occult. The lovely Jennifer (SISTERS) Salt plays his daughter, Diana. Bernie (DR. BLACK, MR. HYDE) Casey portrays the leader of the gargoyles. B movie veteran Scott (THE CHALLENGE) Glenn plays a young man named Reeger wrongly incarcerated for killing an old man when it was actually the work of the gargoyles.

Dr. Boley (Wilde) and his daughter Diana travel though the Nevada desert to meet up with an old man (Woody Chambliss) who has something otherworldly to show them. The items turns out a be a skeleton of a lizard-like creature. As Dr. Boley and the old man prepare to expose their find to the world, they are attacked by something unseen. The old man is killed right before their eyes and Dr. Boley and Diana grab the strange bones and flee in their car. A group of lizard-like creatures attack the car as it speeds through the desert, but the Boleys shake them off and escape.

A gang of dirt bikers, led by (Glenn) is blamed for the death of the old man. The police throw them in jail and Diana and her father know the dirt bikers are innocent, but how do you tell the police that a flying monster is responsible? They go back to their motel, where the gargoyles ambush them and carry Diana into the night. Dr. Boley goes to the police and tells them that the gargoyles killed the old man, and they are responsible for kidnapping his daughter. He convinces the police to let the dirt biker gang free if they will help them go into the desert and look for Diana.

The head gargoyle merely had Diana kidnapped to exchange for their comrades bones, but the creature has taken a romantic interest in her. The lead gargoyle’s mate notices this and brings Dr. Boley into the caverns, while the gargoyle gang battles the police and dirt bikers. Finally Dr. Boley meets up with Diana and her captor, who informs him that the gargoyle eggs will hatch and signal the end of mankind. Boley and Diana must find a way to escape the underground caverns and defeat mankind’s ancient enemy.

One of the highlights of the film is the climax set deep inside the Carlsbad caverns at night (It must have been murder to film in there). Director Norton, an accomplished TV movie director, knows how to maximize his small screen shots much better than a big screen director. He packs these cave scenes with tons of cramped scenes, which make the film much more claustrophobic than if it were a widescreen movie. During these scenes, Boley witnesses the birth of the baby gargoyles (which symbolically mean the end of mankind), and the gargoyle hunters attempt to track down and destroys the gargoyles. There is an enormous amount of stunt work going on for both the police, the bikers, and the gargoyles. All these scenes are uncannily lit, and you forget that it should be pitch black in there.

The tension is effectively built up in the opening act. There is a distinct undercurrent of gargoyle mythology and demonology woven into the script. Many of the images brings to mind John Milton's "Paradise Lost" , with all that epic poem’s gothic, demonic power and majesty. The acting is pretty good especially by Wilde and Bernie Casey as the lead Gargoyle.

You can see the zippers on some of the gargoyles in some scenes. Yeah, they have a certain cheesiness to the costumes, butt that is part of their charm. However, director Norton makes the mistake of showing the full bodied gargoyle costumes ten minutes into the movie. It would have been much better to tease the audience with glimpses of the creatures in combination with shadows. This would have made for a scarier approach. But instead the creatures are trotted out into full view with nothing left to the imagination.

SIGHT

VCI presents the film in its original full frame ratio of 1.33.1. The film was made for TV, so nothing is missing from the image. The DVD transfer is exceptionally clean, and with truly great coloring. The desert landscapes and cave interiors, will not exactly panoramic, are full of crisp detail down to every little nook and cranny. You know you are in for a treat when the title sequence is razor sharp. There were only a few nicks and scratches, which is very good for a film of this vintage. Colors are rendered very nicely, brightness levels are never lacking and the contrast balance is good. Only the black levels seemed a little off, with the shadows looking a little gray, rather than black. There is some grain here and there, but its never distracting. Overall, I doubt GARGOYLES looked this good when it premiered on TV in 1972!

SOUND

Because this is a 1972 movie, I expected a mono soundtrack. But VCI goes the extra distance and creates a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack which adds a lot to the GARGOYLES experience. There is a lot of surround activity and ambiance coming from the rear speakers. You hear the gargoyles flapping their wings overhead, automobiles (and motorcycles) driving around in windy desert, and monster claws raking metal and rock. The dialog is crisp and emanates from the center speaker. There is no hiss, dropouts, or distortions of any kind on the sound track. The only problem is the bass is low and the gunshots don’t have much bite. Robert Prince’s score is an ominous one which leaks through to the rear speakers. Bernie Casey’s inhuman voice on this sound mix is one of the highlights.

FEATURES

Not exactly an abundance of extras, but there is a nice collection of original theatrical trailers for upcoming and currently available VCI DVD releases. The trailers are for Mario Bava’s BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (widescreen 1.66.1, stereo, 1:00), Dario Argento’s BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMMAGE (widescreen 2.35.1, stereo, 2:26), THE NIGHT VISITOR (full frame, stereo, 1:37), and GORGO (widescreen 1.66.1, stereo, 3:00). As GARGOYLES is not a theatrical film, there is no theatrical trailer for it. But there are some movie bios and film facts.

CONCLUSION

I’m not a big fan of TV movies, and perhaps in the last 30 years, I would recommend maybe five made for TV movies. GARGOYLES happens to be one of them. You’ve got your cool monsters, your desolate setting, your hot chick (Salt), and your seventies sensibilities. Mix ‘em all together and polish up the audio and video content on DVD, and you have a minor cult item that will stand the test of time. VCI did a fabulous effort on restoring the visuals, and creating a surround soundtrack for the film.

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