Review of Gorgo (1961) by Gavin S — 21 Jun 2007

One of the first Godzilla rip-offs, Gorgo tells the story of two Americans who discover a 65-foot dinosaur off the coast of Ireland and decide to put it on display in London. There's just one problem and that's the fact that their dinosaur is only a baby, and his 200-foot tall mother decides to come to London to reclaim her child.

The story is quite simple but brilliant and despite the fact that the movie features a small Irish boy who comes awfully close to being a "Kenny", the cast is quite good. Where the film gets into trouble is its special effects.

The monsters are realized through suitmation, like Godzilla, only not with quite the same level of talent. The suits are pretty neat, with little fin ears and huge claws--but the level of detail is pathetic, particularly inside the mouth.

This wouldn't be so bad except we are given multiple close-ups of the inside of the monster's mouth whenever she roars! Also, the many bluescreen effects in the film manage to never be anything less than Godawful, and many have a fog effect superimposed over them that makes them look even worse! However, whether the effects work or not, it cannot be denied that this film contains some of the most horrifying scenes of city destruction.

We see easily a hundred people over the course of the film get crushed under falling bricks and such scenes might actually traumatize small children and even to an adult they're pretty damned disturbing.

So, while the film is not perfect, every giant monster fan should seek it out.