******SPOOKY SPOILERS!******

As a little kid in the early-to-mid 1970s, I remember watching a movie called “Gargoyles” on late night TV starring Cornel Wilde and Jennifer Salt as an father-daughter research team investigating demonic winged creatures in New Mexico. The movie ran just over an hour (a European theatrical cut ran only slightly longer, at 74 minutes), but it makes the most of its titular creatures; some of which were designed/created by future Oscar-winning makeup legend Stan Winston (1946-2008), of “The Terminator,” “Jurassic Park,” and “ALIENS” fame, among many others.

Of course, none of that mattered very much to me at age seven or so, as a kid very much into monsters and dinosaurs at that time. Cheesy as it was, 1972’s “Gargoyles” sated my cravings for both. Anyway, it’s time to put my old man goggles on, and take a deeper look at 1972’s…

“Gargoyles”

After some expository narration about gargoyle lore read by actor Vic Perrin (“The Outer Limits,” “Star Trek”), the action begins at an airport in New Mexico, where Dr. Mercer Boley (Cornel Wilde) has just flown in with his freewheeling daughter Diana (Jennifer Salt) to investigate a possible lead for his forthcoming coffee table book on gargoyles, demons, etc (this was the 1970s; the occult was huge).  College-age Diana works as a photographer for her scholarly dad’s book, which aims to shed a scientific light on some of the old gargoyle legends.

Note: Only in the 1970s would a coffee table book on the occult be considered potential best-seller material, let alone a great gift for the holidays, as Diana suggests.  Actor Cornel Wilde (1912-1989) was a popular movie idol, with roles in big Technicolor epics like “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) and “The Scarlet Coat” (1955).  Later, he’d find a second career with B-movie exploitation flicks like “Shark’s Treasure” (1975) and, well, “Gargoyles.” Actress Jennifer Salt played “Crazy Annie” in the Oscar-winning Best Picture “Midnight Cowboy” (1969); one of my favorite movies of all time. Salt also appeared in Brian De Palma’s “Sisters” (1972), which starred the late Margot Kidder (“Superman: The Movie”).

The Boleys’ first stop takes them into the boondocks to see “Uncle Willie’s Desert Museum,” a convenience store and roadside attractions ‘museum’ (i.e. a tool shed packed with cold drinks, and a bunch of reptiles, spiders and bones). Uncle Willy (Woody Chambliss) is a grizzled, passive-aggressive old man with dreams of coauthoring his own book with Dr. Boley’s help. Boley has to promise the weird old coot a partnership before he’s able to see Uncle Willie’s ‘private stash’ in the back barn, away from the “tourist stuff” he keeps in the main museum. 

Note: If some eccentric old geezer tried to strong-arm me into a coauthoring ‘partnership’ without any credentials or proof upfront, I’d tell them to get lost.  A suggestion that, in retrospect, might’ve saved Boley and his daughter a lot of trouble.

Uncle Wille takes them into a darkened barn with no windows, where he shows Boley and Diana an odd, horned animal-like skull with a pronounced, beak-like snout. A skeptical Boley asks to see the rest, if any.  Uncle Willie then pulls a tarpaulin off a large, winged skeleton hanging on a wall. Boley laughs, dismissing it as an old carnival attraction, like the old “mermaid skeleton,” which combines monkey and fish bones.  Uncle Willie is offended by Boley’s skepticism, insisting he found the skeleton whole in the desert.  Uncle Willie then tells Boley about the creature’s role in local Native American legends, appearing roughly every 500 years or so. After the sun sets, a loud, rhythmic, almost mechanical noise is heard outside.  Before long, the entire barn is shaking violently, as large claws carve into its wooden exterior. Without warning, Uncle Willie is killed by a collapsing beam. A gas lamp also falls, causing the dry wooden structure to go up in flames.  Boley and his daughter run for their lives, though he manages to take the creature’s skull with him as they race to their station wagon.

Note: The loud, rhythmic, mechanical noise accompanying the gargoyles sounds almost exactly like my mother’s old upright floor waxer she kept under the stairs. Not even kidding.  Whenever I’d hear that damned thing in use, I’d half-expect a gargoyle to jump out at me.

Fleeing the fire, Diana urges her dad to call the police, but Boley reminds her that it’s best to do so with the morning, when they can come up with a rational explanation for what happened (?!?).  Late in the evening, they find a roadside motel, where they wake the alcoholic, deeply-opinionated manager, Mrs. Parks (Grayson Hall). At first, Mrs. Parks is leery of Boley and his daughter; mistaking them for a May-December fling. Boley sets her straight, and asks her for separate rooms.  As an exhausted Diana retires to bed, the creepy Mrs. Parks makes a play for Dr. Boley; suggesting they have a drink together, but he blows her off, insisting he’s too tired (uh huh, sure…). 

Note: Actress Grayson Hall (1922-1985) was best-remembered for her role as matriarchal “Julia Hoffman” in the gothic soap opera “Dark Shadows” (1966-1971). I also remember her from the creepy-as-hell “Night Gallery” episode, “Certain Shadows on the Wall” (1970). 

The next morning, Boley and Diana go to the local police to tell them about the fatal fire at Uncle Willie’s place.  They don’t bring up the noisy attacking gargoyles that shook the hell out of the place and started the fire; all of which Boley recorded on audiotape during his interview with Uncle Willy. The police escort Boley and Diana to the site of the fire, where they catch a group of young dirt bikers looting the burnt wreckage of Uncle Willie’s place.  Giving chase, the cops soon capture and arrest the men, falsely accusing them of killing Willie and causing the fire. The bikers are led by James Reeger (Scott Glenn), a cynical man understandably distrustful of cops.  Despite their audiotaped evidence, Boley and Diana fail to speak up in the gang’s defense, because they’re more worried about their reputations than clearing several innocent young men of murder and arson.

Note: Whether they’re believed or not, Boley and his daughter have an audiotape that could prove the bikers’ innocence, yet they fail to act.  They could just show the police what they had, and let the cops imagine what they will, but they don’t even try.  Mind you, these spineless characters are the ‘good guys’ of the story. I realize it’s just a TV monster movie, but these pathetic protagonists are as spineless as a bag of marshmallows. Actor Scott Glenn carved a nice career for himself after this movie with memorable roles in “The Right Stuff” (1983), “The Hunt for Red October” (1990) and “Silence of the Lambs” (1991).

Later that night, Diana and her dad are visited in their motel room by a pair of stealthy gargoyles, who are looking for the skull Boley stole from Uncle Willie’s place. The room is trashed, as the two gargoyles are chased out into the street—but not before successfully reclaiming the skull of their own. Running out into the road, one of the gargoyles is struck and killed by a barreling semi-truck. Before it can be clearly seen by the truck driver, Boley drags the corpse of the creature back to the hotel room for study. Diana suggests the corpse might be used to … oh, I don’t know… clear the young men rotting in jail for a murder they didn’t commit?  However, Diana’s soft-headed dad dismisses her suggestion, still worried more about appearances than people’s lives. The two of them also get a late-night wellness check from a blotto Mrs. Parks, who’s wondering what the hell all that racket was about.  Diana convinces Mrs. Parks that their trashed hotel room was just a little father-daughter domestic spat.  

Note: So, a father and daughter trashing a hotel room during an episode of domestic violence is supposed to be reassuring somehow? That act alone would warrant a call from the cops. Once again, the characters in this movie are stock horror movie clichés who unwaveringly do the wrong thing in order to advance the threadbare plot. The gargoyles are also photographed largely in slow-motion, which sometimes reveals glitches in the costumes, despite the superb makeups. It also cramps the pacing a bit, too.

Diana heads off to the police station in the middle of the night on foot to once again plead on behalf of the arrested men. She mentions the gargoyles, yet fails to mention the dead gargoyle corpse back at their motel room, of course, even though it’d provide proof of the men’s innocence. Diana then apologizes to Reeger, who doubts her gargoyle story too, but nevertheless thanks her for her concern.

Note: Once again, Diana makes another half-hearted attempt to ‘help’ Reeger and his innocent gang without mentioning they had an actual corpse of a gargoyle in their damned motel room. Sadly, actor John Gruber, who plays the slightly more sympathetic Deputy Jesse, died nine years after this movie was made from a heart attack triggered by substance abuse.

Diana walks back to the motel—alone, and at night—where her old man is shoving the covered corpse of the gargoyle into the back of their banged-up station wagon, in hopes of taking it back to Dr. Boley’s university.  However, the station wagon is ambushed by a fresh pair of larger gargoyles, one of whom (Bernie Casey) is the apparent leader. The creatures overturn Boley’s station wagon, knocking him unconscious in the process. Meanwhile, an overwhelmed Diana faints at the sight of the tall, winged gargoyle leader, who abducts the unconscious young woman back to his cave lair in the heart of the desert… 

Note: The Gargoyle leader is played by actor Bernie Casey (1939-2017), who was perhaps best known for the comedies “Revenge of the Nerds” (1987) and “I’m Gonna Git You, Sucka” (1988). The versatile actor also memorably played “Spender” in the 1980 TV adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles,” and “Captain Cal Hudson” in the two-part Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, “The Maquis.” The Gargoyle leader’s vocals were provided in post-production by the electronically-modulated voice of actor Vic Perrin, who also provided the movie’s opening narration.

The next morning, Boley finally decides to finally do the right thing and tell everything that just happened to the police. Mrs. Parks also witnessed the abduction of Diana as well as the overturning of the car by the gargoyles, so she sobers up just enough to add her voice to Boley’s (though she takes a swig or two from the sheriff’s whiskey bottle inside his desk, naturally).  The bikers are finally released, and they even volunteer to help search for Diana in the desert, since the police are understaffed.  As the search parties head out, Mrs. Parks and her driver head back to her motel. Later on, their empty, bloodied truck is discovered, with a dead Mrs. Parks hanging upside down from a utility pole.  As night blankets the desert, half the volunteer search party gives up and goes home, though Boley and Reeger push on toward the gargoyles’ mountainous lair…

Note: Can’t blame the rest of the search party for giving up looking for Boley’s daughter. I mean, it’s not as if Boley gave half a dump for them either, right?

Back in the gargoyles’ cave lair, the captive Diana catches the glowing white eye of the curious gargoyle leader, who is able to (somehow) read English; leafing his clawed hands through some of Dr. Boley’s books on his people (no doubt pilfered from the wreckage of the station wagon). The leader then demands that Diana read the books to him, saying that her voice “pleases” him. Diana also notices a furry, smaller gargoyle with a beak nearby; this is the gargoyle leader’s queen, who grows visibly jealous from the prurient attention the leader’s showering on their scantily-clad human captive. The leader also tells Diana that his people are awakening after a 500-year incubation, with thousands of eggs ready to hatch. 

Note: The idea of a reptilian, winged gargoyle finding a human female physically attractive is like an alligator getting turned on by a really cute chimpanzee. Despite the movie’s whiff of interspecies erotica, nothing really comes of it beyond mildly suggestive innuendo (this movie was made for early 1970s broadcast TV, after all). Actress Jennifer Salt is also made to appear super-vulnerable throughout the film, as she’s forced to wear skimpy halter tops much of the time; even when she’s alone with dad (ewww).

The queen tells her mate that humans are approaching. As the eggs begin to hatch, the gargoyle leader sends his soldiers to defend the lair. Meanwhile, Boley, the deputy, and Reeger enter the vast cave, where they’re met by several gargoyle soldiers. A bloody battle ensues, and many gargoyle soldiers are shot dead. The gargoyle leader finds Dr. Boley, and takes him to see their hatching eggs, where he gloats that this is the end of the human era, and the beginning of theirs. As the queen’s jealousy is further enflamed by her mate’s attention to Diana, she escorts the momentarily unguarded Boley to reunite with his daughter, before helping the two of them escape. Meanwhile, Reeger has entered the egg hatchery and douses it in gasoline. As the outnumbered Reeger is surrounded by more gargoyle soldiers, he lights the gas, and the eggs (as well as the chamber itself) are set ablaze…

Note: Several stunt persons are credited as the other gargoyles, including Mickey Alzola, Greg Walker, and Rock Walker. Since the other gargoyle costumes obscure the actors’ features, I’m not exactly sure who to credit as the gargoyle queen, since it could’ve been any of these stuntmen at any given time. Only Bernie Casey’s lead gargoyle is given humanoid facial features. The gargoyle makeups are also nicely diverse; spanning artworks of these mythical creatures in different periods through different cultures.

With the egg chamber destroyed, the gargoyle leader realizes the humans have won.  He grabs Diana in retribution, before Boley pelts the queen with a rock—damaging her wings and preventing her from flying.  Forced to carry his mate to safety, the gargoyle leader compliments Boley on his clever strategy, as these last two gargoyles take off to begin a new colony elsewhere. Boley and Diana watch as the gargoyles soar above the rocks into the dawn sky…

Note: I realize this is just a made-for-TV creature feature (distributed theatrically overseas), but the gargoyle wings seem woefully small to generate enough thrust to keep them airborne. Nevertheless, the image of the two reptilians flying off to safety (an entirely practical effect) is a memorable one. Once again, their flight is filmed in slow-motion, as is most of the gargoyle action.

The End.

Summing It Up

Written by Stephen and Elinor Karpf and directed by prolific TV director Bill F. Norton, “Gargoyles” is more a proof-of-concept conspicuously designed to show off a cool gimmick; in this case, some surprisingly effective creature designs and makeup effects. The human characters of the film are little more than the cardboard cutouts and clichés you’d see populating a 1950s atomic monster flick, where ignorant townsfolk refuse to believe meddling outsiders or teenagers trying to warn them of strange goings-on afoot in their sleepy little boondocks (see: “The Blob,” “Earth vs. the Spider” and countless others). The movie’s pacing is uneven too, even for the 1970s; making this otherwise short 74-minute film feel considerably longer.

The real ‘stars’ of “Gargoyles” are the titular creatures, as well as those fleeting moments of atmosphere and mood that manage to come through an otherwise pedestrian story padded with police chases and dull dialogue. Of course, you don’t watch a movie like this for Emmy-caliber performances or riveting dialogue; you watch for the cool monsters, and perhaps a whiff of occult lore, which was super-popular back in the 1970s (I was there, I can vouch). The late Stan Winston’s makeup prowess is evident, even if some of the accompanying gargoyle costumes are just this side of the Sleestaks from 1974’s “Land of the Lost.”

There’s more than a hint of exploitation flick here, as well, with a suggestion of interspecies kinkiness as the reptilian Gargoyle leader (Bernie Casey) becomes increasingly infatuated by the scantily-clad mammal, Diana (Jennifer Salt); who also shares an odd, vaguely inappropriate relationship with her old man, Dr. Boley (Cornell Wilde). And despite antihero Reeger (Scott Glenn) sacrificing himself for the human race’s survival, Boley offers a merciful way out for the ancient, exotic creatures to regroup and thrive elsewhere; perhaps as a backdoor for a sequel that never happened.

It’s unfortunate that “Gargoyles” was released on TV in the United States, since movies like this were the very reason drive-in movies existed.  “Gargoyles” is just so much 1970s cheesiness.

Where to Watch

“Gargoyles” is widely available to stream for free on Philo, Tubi, Plex, and Crackle, as well as Amazon Prime Video (with subscription). For physical media geeks like myself, the movie is also available to own on DVD and Blu-Ray via eBay and Amazon (prices vary by seller). I purchased my own decent-looking copy on DVD a couple decades ago.