Home

Cornel Wilde, Jennifer Salt, Scott Glen, Bernie Casey
This movie serves no purpose to anyone who didn’t catch it growing up. A classic MOTW, Gargoyles was a staple of the Saturday Afternoon Matinee in my white-trash town. But without that childhood memory of seeing Bernie Casey as the head Gargoyle sweeping the sultry Jennifer Salt into his arms (in slo-m no less!), it’s bound to fall flat, which is the opposite of Jennifer’s bodacious bod.

Cornel Wilde is Dr. Mercer Boley (there’s a name for ya!), an anthropologist who has found fame debunking mythological legends. He’s arrived in Mexico with his daughter, Diana (Salt), who didn’t seem to pack anything besides bikini tops. They’ve set off to find an eccentric old barker named Uncle Willy who claims to own the remains of an unknown creature. Dr. Boley laughs it off as crepe paper and various animal bones strewn together, but after he runs over a very large lizard like creature, he may be proven wrong.

The anthropologic super-duo drag the Gargoyle’s corpse back to their hotel for a bit of impromptu forensic research, which ain’t boding so well with the Gargoyles. Somehow a biker gang (including a too-hot-for-words Scott Glenn) is arrested for the death of Uncle Willie, Diana is kidnapped by the head Gargoyle (Bernie Casey) and all hell breaks loose.

Director Bill Norton seems to have a penchant for the bizarre, seeing as how Gargoyles and the dismally hallucinogenic More American Graffiti were two of his first films. Here he makes the most of the low budget and scary desert locale. Filled with fun characters, Grayson Hall of Dark Shadows fame is hilarious as the drunkard motel owner whose idea of flirting involves discussions about car accidents! But for the uninitiated, Gargoyles probably looks clumsy, and it’s as slow as molasses on a log. For those of us who remember pulling the sheets up over our heads every time that sexy Gargoyle growled the name Diana, you NEED to revisit this cult classic.

Recapped by Amanda by Night