The Gorgon
Brad
Brad
bk1e

@riedlr There I lived, and there I turned to stone. It was only a moment for you, but the film still has 16 minutes left.

Ben Zanin
Ben Zanin
gnomon

Heitz: "Carla... I'll take you away now!"

He's just trying to steal her epic cloak! Don't fall for it, Carla.

Ross of Ottawa
Ross of Ottawa
ottaross

"The proper word is Gorgonized."

Sounds like something you'd get done while having your tires rotated.

Floaty Birb
Floaty Birb
floatybirb

In the next scene, we see that Professor Dadbeard is back in his fanfiction library, when a servant disturbs him and we see that he is stoned! As in, his skin is all gray now and he is gradually turning to stone; he warns the servant away.

Releasing that he is doomed to be a clue in a monster mystery, he starts writing a letter to Doctor Muttonchops explaining that a monster is turning people into stone and only Doctor Muttonchops can resolve this because he is a Science Master.

Ben Zanin
Ben Zanin
gnomon

*a ghostly voice yodels off somewhere in the dark_

_extremely Frozen 2 voice_ into the unKNOOOOOOWN

@k8eb: "she's singing! That makes her a siren, not a gorgon."

Floaty Birb
Floaty Birb
floatybirb

Okay, so Judge White Goatee decides that Bruno was the murderer who killed the girl and then himself in a fit of rage. Because no one mentioned that the body of the girl was turned to stone, this sounds plausible to the court.

Major oversight there... doctor muttonchops, major oversight.

Ross of Ottawa
Ross of Ottawa
ottaross

It's 1965 - the lesson here is surely that being involved with artists and nude models means certain death through divine justice!

Terencio

last line shoulda been: "She's not just free... she's gorGONE!"

jonny (good kind)
jonny (good kind)
jonny@neuromatch.social

wow not only did we only get like 30 seconds of screen time for the gorgon, we also only got like 30 seconds of screen time for the rock guys. absolutely no british banter about how you look a tad stiff innit. #monsterdon

Floaty Birb
Floaty Birb
floatybirb

Okay, so I missed part of the movie due to distraction, but what's going on is that the monster hunter guy, who I will call Saruman Mustache, now suspects that Madam Carrothair is possessed by the spirit of the Gorgon (Megara, who died 2000 years ago), who turns her into a medusa lady every full moon, like a snake girl werewolf and then she has some amnesia.

Also, there's the weird love triangle between Madam Carrothair, Inspector Nick and Doctor Muttonchops.

nhgeek
nhgeek
nhgeek

Peter Cushing was renowned for his poker face on set, needed not only for horror scenes but also for staying deadpan when a co-star accidentally let loose a 'special effect' in those tightly corseted costumes.

SnoopJ
SnoopJ
SnoopJ@hachyderm.io

I am enjoying the whodunnit of it all. The pacing of this movie is surely slow, but "deliberate" is perhaps more fair

#Monsterdon

Ben Zanin
Ben Zanin
gnomon

A little less kissing and a little more snekification, please and thank you

Floaty Birb
Floaty Birb
floatybirb

Okay, so Christopher Lee appears in the guise of a guy with a floppy hat who is I guess is a monster hunter doing an investigation. Then Doctor Muttonchops is doing an autopsy, which involves removing a brain and putting it in a wet jar to make a mixed drink for sober mind flayers.

He then has a conversation with Carla, where we reveal that the Doctor does have gorgon knowledge, and thinks the gorgon has taken human form but he won't explain more until he is Sure.

Ben Zanin
Ben Zanin
gnomon

The weather patterns in this scene are very confusing. Instant rain? Violent winds and thunder? The rain instantly disappears again!? I think our protagonist here had some bad rarebit before going to sleep and this was all a bad dream.

(edit: extra points to anyone who recalls The Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend)

Floaty Birb
Floaty Birb
floatybirb

Okay, so taking the bad advice, Professor Dad Beard follows the Beautiful Ethereal Singing voice into the abandoned castle that's been trashed; he furthers its trashing by tripping on things and disturbing some innocent pigeons who were probably peacefully pooping over the castle ruins.

Eventually, he glimpses a Beautiful Spooky Lady hiding behind a mirror, then screams and runs outside.

Floaty Birb
Floaty Birb
floatybirb

Doctor Muttonchops is visited by the dad of the dead guy, who I will call Professor Dadbeard, who tells him the Legend of the Gorgon, and Doctor Muttonchops tries to quietly warn him off. Professor Dadbeard plays Mage: The Ascension so he believes in supernatural things, while Doctor Muttonchops is a technocrat who at least pretends not to.

Floaty Birb
Floaty Birb
floatybirb

So starts with a slide show showing us a cool castle surrounded by leaves, along with eerie music. Encouragingly, both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are in this movie. We then get a quick infodump from some words that go by fast... we learn the castle is called "Borski" and there's some kind of ancient monster there or something.

Then the scene cuts to a painter drawing some boobs.

Brad
Brad
bk1e

@gnomon IMDb advanced search shows a few Vincent Price / Christopher Lee collaborations, ignoring TV series and documentaries:

The Oblong Box (1969)
Scream and Scream Again (1970) with Cushing
House of the Long Shadows (1983) with Cushing

Sordid Amok!
Sordid Amok!
SordidAmok

I can't help but compare everything Lee was in with The Wicker Man, which isn't fair. That kind of script doesn't come along everyday.

Wyatt H Knott
Wyatt H Knott
whknott

Oh, come on. THe only way heavy candlestick beats sword is if you're not even trying. Gimme that thing.

Floaty Birb
Floaty Birb
floatybirb

As our plot characters converge on the castle, Inspector Nick discovers Doctor Muttonchops is also there, waiting for (Carla / the Gorgon / Madam Carrothair) with a sword, like a maniac. Then we have a Sword versus candlestick battle, where muttonchops are proven stronger than not having muttonchops.

Cactuar Joe
Cactuar Joe
CactuarJoe@retro.pizza

Seriously, Meg's done nothing wrong in this whole film. She sits in the castle and people come in, look at her, and die. The village would be FINE if they'd stop wandering into the castle like lemmings! #Monsterdon

Floaty Birb
Floaty Birb
floatybirb

After some confusing running around and acting at each other, we reach another full moon night, and Mustache Saruman slaps Inspector Nick because drama, and then the later sneaks out at night.

Admittedly, by this point I've kind of given up on the plot and am just waiting for the snake lady to turn more people to stone. Go snake lady go!

Ross of Ottawa
Ross of Ottawa
ottaross

"Search the house!"

"Avoid all inflatable mattresses, balloons, and beach balls if you're going to wear those pointy helmets?"

Floaty Birb
Floaty Birb
floatybirb

Alright, I think I realized why I'm confusing basic details in this movie and its that it relies a lot on careful dialog and tightly written scenes to reveal plot and backstory, which is hard to follow when I'm also trying to live toot it. It sort of give me murder mystery vibes, where each scene has a bunch of context clues buried in it.