Gorgo

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.

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.

The British must have been really jealous of the legendary Japanese monster Godzilla destroying the city of Tokyo, as they insisted on having their very one mega-giant critter destroying the city of London. The result is Gorgo, a charming and easily aggravated sea lizard of Irish descent with adorable bright red eyes. The film opens with a diving expedition witnessing an underwater volcano eruption in the middle of the ocean. The impressive ecological phenomenon brings a lot of fake and inexistent species of rubber fish to the surface, but also awakens the bad-tempered sea monster Gorgo. See, Gorgo is a really cool monstrosity that doesn't waste any time and that's something horror fans will definitely always appreciate. Unlike most monsters in the film industry, Gorgo doesn't start by picking off sole victims somewhere in the middle of the sea; it promptly attacks entire seaside villages at one. That way, there are witnesses aplenty and the few hysterical survivors don't have to waste half of the script trying to convince the authorities about what they saw. Greedy fishermen catch the prehistoric critter and sell him/her/it to a sleazy circus owner in London. But then, and inevitably, it turns out that they only just captured Gorgo Junior, and mommy obviously doesn't like that her baby is downgraded to being a circus freak. "Gorgo" isn't a great or even highly memorable monster classic, but at least it's never boring. The titular monster is pretty cool, the special effects are reasonably astonishing considering the time of release and there are a few admirable attempts to generate sequences of mass hysteria and mayhem. The majority of miniature sets are delightful and let's not forget the various and hilarious use of stock footage! Military battleships and U-boats are firing off artillery into the open water and Gorgo isn't anywhere near the point of impact. The rampage through London itself is not as overwhelming as the aforementioned Godzilla crushing down Tokyo, but it's nice and exhilarating to look at nonetheless. Recommended if you have a soft spot for late 50's/early 60's ecological monster movies.

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 actually one of the most enjoyable trash movies ever made.The monster is really funny-looking and the action is fast and exciting.The film will surely make you smile on some occasions.The acting is okay and the special effects are pretty good considering the year in which the film was made.7 out of 10.Check it out!