GARGOYLES certainly deserves to be a classic of this era's made-for-TV movies and it's clearly one of the best of its kind. Award-winning special effects provided by Stan Winston (Jurassic Park, Terminator 2.
The film offers up some performances from Wilde and Salt as well as supporting players Grayson Hall, William Stevens and a young Scott Glenn. A terrifying tale of ancient evil unfolds as anthropologist Mercer Boley (Cornel Wilde) and his daughter (Jennifer Salt) battle to save the Earth from being taken over by a clan of grotesque, demon-like gargoyles they've discovered living in the Arizona desert.
The voice alterations for the monsters were also a bit silly and brought on some unintended camp value. I think there are a few too many silly moments during the final act and I must say that all the scenes with the head gargoyle and the daughter talking are somewhat embarrassing. I thought the monsters were a lot of fun and their outfits and looks were certainly a major plus. Once we do get to see the creatures the suspense dies out but I think the effects are still so good that you can't help but have fun with them. There are a couple examples early on where we just hear the monsters or see their shadows as they fly across something and these moments are very effective. I thought director Bill Norton actually did a very good job at building up the anticipation of the monsters early on and I thought some of the best moments happened before we ever actually got to see the creatures. At just 74-minutes GARGOYLES packs enough fun to make it worth viewing even though some rather silly moments and flaws. He's pretty much a non-believer that something could be out there today but that all changes when he runs into a pack of gargoyles who are just waiting to take the world over.
Gargoyles (1972) *** (out of 4) Fun made-for-TV horror film has an anthropologist (Cornel Wilde) and his daughter (Jennifer Salt) traveling out West so that he can do research on his book about demons.
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