Gog, O Monstro de Cinco Mãos

Saw this film when I was about 10 years old. I loved Sci-Fi movies so naturally saw this one. But something was different. There was some unusually tense undercurrent in the story. Actually scared me. Years later I realized the nervous tension was due to the underlying theme of the 'cold war'. The Cold War was very real back in the 50's and as a kid you would hear, now and then, things that would scare the pants off of you. What came first? The chicken or the egg? Was this a sci-fi flick that used the cold war tension or was it overwhelmed by the omnipresent tensions of said war? Don't know but it scare the heck out of me back then.

GOG is quite an extraordinary, obscure film -- it has hardly ever been rerun on any channel, however I was lucky enough to catch it in its entirety [I'd edited it perfectly - without commercials] about 10 years ago on TNT [Turner network] ... in COLOR! I have hung onto this little GEM and view it occasionally and I must say that I still find this movie to be highly enjoyable! I cannot understand why TURNER/MGM/ WARNER has not EVER released this film in ANY format [never on VHS, DVD or LASERDISC] ... with all of the CRAP [old and new] that is being dredged up on a daily basis for video [DVD] releases, the mind boggles as to why so many classic [and decent "B" flix] SCI-FI & HORROR films have still yet to be released [ex: BURN WITCH BURN, DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, KING KONG, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, WORLD WITHOUT END, INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, TARANTULA, ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS, CONQUEROR WORM, THE POWER, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, BRIDES OF DRACULA, GAMMA PEOPLE, LAND UNKNOWN, MONOLITH MONSTERS, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, DR CYCLOPS, MOLE PEOPLE, IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, UNINVITED, INNOCENTS, SON OF KONG, MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, EARTH VS THE SPIDER, DEVIL DOLL, BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE, INVISIBLE BOY, TOBOR, etc etc this long list goes on and on ...]! Anyway, GOG is right on the mark [and ahead of its time - 1956] with Cold War conspiracies, Nuclear testing, computer programming, Biblical references [GOG & MAGOG] and it is indeed a well-constructed film with an interesting espionage approach. ANDROMEDA STRAIN was obviously influenced by this film! The acting is downplayed to a rather scientific level, but is good and on par -- you will notice many veteran stock actors within the cast. Most of the previous User Comments in regards to this film are quite accurate and thoughful, and can be blended into a final strong and POSITIVE review. Indeed, SEE IT - ENJOY IT - pray for DVD!

... and there are unforgettable images which have stayed with me, especially the horrific scene as Dr. Hubertus (Michael Fox, perfectly cast) finds himself trapped within the test chamber with the slowly oscillating window wiper, and the growing panic that follows with the grim realization that his screams for help cannot be heard. And then that stare through the glass as his spectacles ice over ...

Look for "Gog". There have to be copies out there somewhere.

I was perhaps seven or eight years old when I saw "Gog" in the 1950s. The story was only somewhat comprehensible to me; although I understood that the laboratory was some type of research facility, it was unclear to me why things were going haywire. The jet flying overhead was a mystery: where did it come from, who was in it, and what was it doing?

The scientific devices were fun to watch, especially the "ray" weapon. Being unable to grasp the concept of sabotage, I didn't appreciate why the device was not operating as designed. But what had the biggest effect on me was the action of the robots. Their running amok in the lab scared me to death. Maybe I picked up on the terror of the lab's occupants.

The combination of confusion and fear made watching the movie (on TV) unpleasant but fascinating. It would be fun to see "Gog" now, knowing what I do about the plot, the actors, and the Cold War era in which it was made.

There's a saboteur afoot at a secret government facility in the desert; a professor from the Office of Scientific Investigation and a female agent seek answers to the malfunctions which have resulted in the deaths of top scientists. Producer Ivan Tors, who also gets an original story credit, loved mixing science-fiction with science-fact, but perhaps gets too carried away here with his love of teaching science (the tour of the facility's many laboratories constitutes nearly half the film's running-time). While the exhibitions and scientific theories are certainly interesting, the technical jargon becomes monotonous. Nicely-produced on a low budget, and with some suspense near the finale, but--as a thriller in the sci-fi genre--it lacks a good old-fashioned charge of excitement. ** from ****