Gorgo (1961) Review

Gorgo (1961) Review

 

Everyone knows about Godzilla, but what about his cousins? I’m talking about the giant flying turtle Gamera, also from Big G’s native Japan, or Yongary, the monster from the deep, who was Korea’s answer to a giant reptilian creature destroying a city, or Reptilicus, the Danish dragon. Before all of those ones there was Gorgo, which was a British-American co-production, and one of the most blatant Godzilla rip-offs of them all—but that isn’t to say it’s not great.

This movie is probably more enjoyable if you don’t know that much about it going into it, but unfortunately I feel like I have to say a bit more than nothing for the plot summary in this review. I’ll just say up front that if you really enjoy monster movies from this era I recommend checking it out. A salvage team narrowly escapes an undersea volcano as it erupts off the coast of Ireland—right away we start with some visual effects that are a bit silly, but they are on par with the majority of VFX from this era of Hollywood, so it’s not really a criticism. In fact, the effects are part of Gorgo’s charm. The salvage crew head to Nara Island and find out about the legend of a sea monster that ends up attacking the island and getting captured by the crew. They name the beast Gorgo after Medusa the gorgon, and put it in a London exhibition. Little do they realize this giant is still just a baby, and the even larger mother stomps her way through the city to get her infant back.

Gorgo differs from Godzilla in some key ways, not the least of which is its ending, which is decidedly unconventional. It’s slow but well-paced, not too long and not skimping on what you want to see. The monster appears an appropriate amount of time into the movie, you get to see plenty of it, and the twist that an even larger one is out there comes into the story just in time to keep it from getting boring, and makes the destructive climax worthy of being favourably compared to the best moments from the Japanese film series it is copying. The protagonists are not super interesting, just a couple guys interested in making some money off Gorgo, channeling that familiar Carl Denham energy from the original King Kong. In fact, Gorgo imitates King Kong quite a bit, too—it’s almost like a hybrid of both classics, but nowhere near the level of quality of either, largely due to the unremarkable (and almost entirely male) cast of characters and the dated visuals. In terms of comparing it to the Godzilla franchise in this decade, though, it’s actually more serious and grim than the G-films released around the same time.

The effects for Gorgo are extremely rubber, but still come with that 60’s charm, and the design is basically just Godzilla with big ears. The miniature replicas of familiar London buildings and landmarks do not break apart in as realistic of a way as earlier Godzilla movies, but it doesn’t detract from the third act. Highlights include: some guys getting set on fire at the dock when mama Gorgo arrives, a religious zealot with a sign declaring “The End is nigh” getting flattened, and the military blasting uselessly at the monster while she tears down Big Ben. It isn’t a particularly unique or creative monster movie, but for what it is, it gets the job done and knows how to stay entertaining despite its shortcomings.

Gorgo would be the perfect kaiju film to remake right now, with modern effects that could update an otherwise adequately told story, but the original still has the charm that all the best rampaging monster movies of that era had. Here’s an idea: why not remake Konga, the King Kong rip-off released the same year as the original Gorgo, then make Gorgo vs. Konga? If you liked Godzilla vs. Kong you’ll love this one! It’s perfect; both monsters attacked London in their original films, they could fight over the remains of the city. Or how about a remake of The Mighty Gorga, another Kong rip-off? Watch for the name difference. Maybe Gorgo vs. Gorga would be too confusing for viewers. Whoever owns the rights to these properties should get on these remakes pronto and give me a call.