Gorgo

Gorgo is the third of the monster on the loose movies to be directed by Eugene Lourie. It came two years after The Giant Behemoth and was the only monster movie to be directed by him to be made in colour.

This is an excellent movie with great special effects. This is the British version of Godzilla and the monsters look impressive, despite them being men in monster suits. The acting in this is quite good and there is an excellent music score too. This was made towards the end of the craze for giant monster movies.

This movie is a must for monster movie fans and I enjoyed it very much.

This is British monster movie action at its best. Enjoy!

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

A retelling of the Godzilla story in a British setting, Gorgo is a lot of fun to watch. As other reviewers have said, two fisherman come across a monster ("Gorgo") off the coast of Ireland and decide to put it on display in London. Trouble begins when Gorgo's mother shows up and wants her child back! The scenes of terrified crowds rushing the streets and attacks by the military are all well filmed (obviously the British military helped out a great deal in producing the movie), and it's neat to see a monster destroy a city besides Tokyo for once. Gorgo is obviously someone in a rubber suit, but the monster itself comes across as totally believable. Takes a while to get moving, but well worth seeing.

Ocean volcanic eruption brings many deep sea fishes to the surface. Divers researching the ocean finds not only the fishes, but a reptilian monster from the deep. They succeed in capturing the monster, and brings it back to London, but a closer study shows that it's only an infant, and a lot bigger adult is expected to exist somewhere. The adult shows up, to search for its missing offspring, and London is under attack by a 200 ft tall monster.

This might be a British version of Godzilla, but it's the first time a monster is portrayed as a family. The production is very good for a movie of this sorts, and has aged well. It was even more sensational back in the '60s when the movie was made.

It's a classic monster movie that has its place in movie history, and still a good entertainment to watch.

GORGO is hardly a perfect film but it does have several things working in its favor which make it more entertaining than many other giant monster films. One is director Eugene Lourie, certainly no stranger to giant monster films directing THE BEAST FROM 20000 FATHOMS, THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK, THE GIANT BEHEMOTH as well as GORGO. In terms of Special FX and Ending, only the first film named above is better than GORGO. The FX work(done by Tom Howard) in GORGO is truly well-accomplished and for the time and era was rather ground breaking. The Ending is also truly unique amongst giant monster films which usually all end the same way but this one certainly doesn't.

The problems lie mostly with lack of character development and some serious leaps of logic. Still there are times this film can be quite suspenseful particularly once Mama Gorgo comes on the scene. The huge red-eyed Mama rising out of the water is certainly memorable stuff.

Yes, Yes, I know...this movie could be viewed as simply a ripoff of Godzilla. But really, the Brits took the concept and did a "Good show, old chap." Unlike most of the 'Zilla movies, it actually has an interesting plot. It's theme has a decidedly "pro environment" message...and the guy in the monster suit doesn't camp it up, but makes the monster seem remarkably real. Now there are some weaknesses...despite a journeyman cast of capable folks, many still turn in one-note performances, as if they're a little embarrassed about being in a monster movie. Also, some of the plot mechanisms are a little creaky. For all that, though, this is a monster movie that's at least a small cut above most. It held my attention as an adult (I'd first seen it as a child and didn't see it again for twenty years), the special effects are mostly quite good, and the ending, despite being hokey, still works! It rarely shows up on tv for some reason...so if you get a chance, rent it (there are copies available in independent shops that specialize in rare movies.)