Gargoyles (TV film)
| Gargoyles | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Horror |
| Written by | Stephen and Elinor Karpf |
| Directed by | B. W. L. Norton |
| Starring | Cornel Wilde Jennifer Salt Grayson Hall Bernie Casey |
| Music by | Robert Prince |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Roger Gimbel |
| Producers | Bob Christiansen and Rick Rosenberg |
| Production locations | Carlsbad Caverns National Park - 727 Carlsbad Caverns Highway, Carlsbad, New Mexico Laredo, Texas |
| Cinematography | Earl Rath |
| Editor | Frank P. Keller A.C.E. |
| Running time | 74 minutes |
| Production company | Tomorrow Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release |
|
Gargoyles is an American made-for-television fantasy horror film, directed by B. W. L. Norton, and originally broadcast Tuesday, November 21, 1972, for CBS' The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies. It was the first film to feature the make-up work of special effects artist Stan Winston, for which he shared the 1973 Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup.[1]
Opening narration by Vic Perrin
"The Devil was once the most favored of the host of angels serving the Lord. But pride welled in his breast. He thought it unseemly for him to serve. The Devil and his band of followers, who likewise suffered the sin of pride, were defeated in battle by the Lord and his host and were banished to the outermost depths of Hell — never to know the presence of the Lord or look on Heaven again.
Smarting with his wounds, but all the more swollen with pride, the Devil cried out from the depths, "It is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven". The Devil proclaimed what was lost in Heaven would be gained on Earth. He said, "My offspring the Gargoyles will one day rule the Lord's works Earth and Man".
And so it came to pass that while Man ruled on Earth, the Gargoyles waited, lurking, hidden from the light. Reborn every six hundred years in Man's reckoning of time, the Gargoyles joined battle against Man to gain dominion over the Earth. In each coming, the Gargoyles were nearly destroyed by Man who flourished in greater numbers.
Now it has been so many hundreds of years that it seems the ancient statues and paintings of Gargoyles are just products of Man's imagination. In this year, with Man's thoughts turned toward the many ills he has brought upon himself, Man has forgotten his most ancient adversary, the Gargoyles".
Plot
Dr. Mercer Boley and his daughter Diana are traveling in New Mexico for his scientific research. They are shown a skeleton of a large creature with wings and horns at a place called Uncle Willie's Desert Museum. Dr. Boley dismisses it as a hoax assembled from unrelated bones, but Uncle Willie insists that he found the bones together as a whole skeleton. While Uncle Willie tells them tales of demons from American Indian folklore, an unseen force attacks the building, causing a rafter to collapse and kill the proprietor, and starting a fire that consumes the building. Dr. Boley and Diana escape with the horned skull and take it to a motel.
The next morning they report to the police and return to the site of the fire. There they find a group of young men, James Reeger and four others, riding motorcycles around the ruins. The police arrest them on suspicion of causing the fire, against the advice of the Boleys.
That night, two Gargoyles, appearing much smaller than the skeleton and without horns or wings, invade the motel room to retrieve the skull. Dr. Boley chases them to the road where one is struck and killed by a truck and the other gets away with the skull. Boley takes the body back to the room. The alcoholic hotelier, Mrs. Parks, complains but Diana tries to assure her that it was only a family argument.
Diana returns to the police station and pleads for the bikers' innocence but the police refuse to release them. She tells Reeger about the dead gargoyle but does not mention it to the police even though it would prove their innocence, apparently because her father wants it for study. She returns to the motel.
Two slightly larger gargoyles return to recover the gargoyle body, but the Boleys escape with it through the window and stow it in their station wagon. The gargoyles rip the passenger door off and kidnap Diana, then overturn the car rendering Dr. Boley unconscious. The gargoyles take Diana to their cave, where they have many eggs. She meets the gargoyle leader, who is larger and has wings and horns like the skeleton. He tells Diana that they have only been alive for a few weeks after a 500-year incubation, and that humans have repeatedly killed them off in the past, but he vows that they will survive this time. He has several of Dr. Boley's books, apparently also taken from the car, and insists that Diana read to him. As she reads a passage that describes a mythical encounter between a human female and a demon who molests her, the leader approaches from behind and startles her, but assures her that he has no interest in humans.
Dr. Boley convinces the police to release the bikers and search for Diana, and Reeger joins them. Mrs. Parks and her helper drive away to get assistance, but the search party later finds her pickup truck empty and bloodied, and her body hanging upside down from a telephone pole with no sign of the helper.
The gargoyle leader has a queen, who also has wings, and she informs him that "men, horses, and dogs" are approaching the cave, and that many more eggs will hatch the next day. The leader orders that the humans must be stopped in the desert. Over a dozen gargoyles charge the humans and both sides have casualties.
The leader takes Dr. Boley to the cave and vows that "this is the end of your age, the beginning of mine." The queen appears jealous of the leader's attention to Diana, and she leads Dr. Boley to his daughter and lets them escape. Reeger douses the eggs with gasoline but is attacked by several gargoyles before he can get away, so he lights the fuel and sacrifices himself.
When the leader realizes that his war is once again lost, Dr. Boley bludgeons the queen's wing with a rock so she cannot fly, and so the leader must carry her away. He flies away with her to create a new nest somewhere.[2][3]
Cast
- Cornel Wilde as Mercer Boley
- Jennifer Salt as Diana Boley
- Grayson Hall as Mrs. Parks
- Bernie Casey as The Gargoyle
- Scott Glenn as James Reeger
- William Stevens as Police Chief
- John Gruber as Jesse
- Woody Chambliss as Uncle Willie
- Jim Connell as Buddy
- Tim Burns as Ray
- Mickey Alzola
- Greg Walker
- Rock Walker as Gargoyles
- Uncredited
- Vic Perrin (opening narration and voice of Gargoyle leader)
References
- ^ Daz Lawrence, Gargoyles – USA, 1972 – reviews, 'Movies and Mania' May 31, 2013 https://moviesandmania.com/2013/05/31/gargoyles-1972-horror-tv-film-movie-review/
- ^ Scott Drebit, Gargoyles, 'Daily Dead,' January 28, 2018 https://dailydead.com/it-came-from-the-tube-gargoyles-1972/
- ^ Matt Barone, The 15 Best TV Movies Of All Time, 'Complex' August 27, 2011 https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2011/08/the-15-best-tv-movies-of-all-time/