His daughter joins him, and together they drive out to meet an old man who says he has made a discovery, which turns out to be the skeleton of some strange winged creature. Boley, who studies the occult (to mostly debunk it and sell books) is in Arizona on a trip to study legends from the region. Vic Perrin did a voice-over for the head gargoyle in post-production because they didn’t think Bernie Casey’s voice fit the character.īill Norton remained an active TV director to date directing episodes of Law and Order, Angel, Medium, The Guardian, and an episode each of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ghost Whisperer.Actors: Cornel Wilde, Jennifer Salt, Grayson HallĪ professor, Dr. The entire film was shot with a single camera in 18 days. I still enjoy watching it but I like all those 70’s horror flicks. Love for this film is probably more nostalgic than anything, but it does have cult horror flick status. And, burning the lair of eggs reminded me of a similar scene in Aliens. Another early scene has a gargoyle jump on the station wagon roof from behind in a scene filmed quite like a similar scene in Halloween. Also, the beasts come alive every so-many years then go dormant for a long period. What I find interesting is similarities found in horror flicks which would follow the early scene where the farmer has a skeleton in his barn/warehouse reminds me of Jeepers Creepers. It is totally obvious but aesthetically pleasing.
It also uses slo-mo to make the gargoyle beasts seem to have unnatural movement. It has some PG violence which includes smashing through walls and doors, ripping car doors off their hinges and turning over a station wagon. The story is simplistic but I still find this watch-able once it get rolling.
Combine his incredible make-up work with a powerful voice put through a voice filter and you have a threatening character. I was a youngster and the alpha gargoyle was quite convincing, due to the make-up effects of a young Stan Winston. ***Top Television Horror Movies of the 1970’s***Ĭan you say Stan Winston? This film is slow paced by today’s standards but I remember being scared when it had first aired on television.