House of the Gorgon

Oh dear! That's the only thing I can really say about fan movie HOUSE OF THE GORGON (2019), written/directed by and starring massive Hammer fan Joshua Kennedy. It's an American indie production made as a throwback to the Hammer films of old, that begins with a trio of women travelling by carriage to a remote region of Karlstadt where they find a mysterious house and its strange occupants. The title is a clue to the Greek-influence menace in this film.

Sadly, it's appalling in every respect,but then it would be given that it was shot in five days. Copying scenes from Hammer films on a tiny budget doesn't really do it for me. Caroline Munro hams it up shamelessly, Martine Beswick gives the most fun performance - like she's in a panto - while Veronica Carlson is stuck with a dull role. Oh, and AD 1972's Christopher Neame also appears as a priest, but perhaps he should have stayed at home. I think the poster artwork is the best part of this film.

If one doesn't try to compare this with classic Hammer Horror productions (the settings are more like Roger Corman's films of the same era), it can be enjoyed on its own merits. We have Hammer favourites Caroline Munro, Martine Beswicke and Veronica Carlson and Christopher Neame (who could ask for more), in a well- written story with enough dark secrets and sinister scenes to satisfy those with a taste for the macabre.

Director Joshua Kennedy wisely avoided using any CGI effects in the film - almost everything is done in camera with sleight-of-hand, and this is refreshing.

Georgina Dugdale is an attractive and likeable leading lady.

The stirring score by Reber Clark is another great plus for this picture.

Despite the horror theme, gore is at a minimum, and it's kind of refreshing to listen to dialogue that isn't littered with four letter words. (No real problem if it is, but this isn't - in keeping with the period setting.)

The picture was clearly made with love and enthusiasm by all concerned. Kennedy, who also appears as the leading man, has done a great job with a small budget. Someone in Hollywood should back this guy with some big bucks. I know we would see some astonishing work.

This was a mess of a movie if i'm honest. Now im not bashing that its low budget as sometimes it can be a good thing for a movie and I will hand it to them that they worked well with what they had. I'm also not turning down the cast. They were all fine as much as I could tell. The three hammer stars were all fine after being away for some years. I liked the main actress as well and thought that she could get somewhere one day. The setting was alright and in a different light they house could be even more creepy. There were not many scares but overall its not to bad I just felt the film as a whole was a little let down but worth a watch if you like this kind of film.

Set in the 19th Century a young woman, her mother and best friend travel to central Europe for her marriage to a town doctor, however two evil sisters of Medusa the Gorgon are living with the young man (!) The opening credits proclaim "A Gothic Fairytale", the colour palate uses a lot of purple, blue and green, contrasted with much black, this gives the film a dreamlike look but I didn't like it, if anything it only highlighted the obvious low budget. This is a fan film made by and starring one Joshua Kennedy, unfortunately his acting is painfully wooden, and he's not the only one. The attraction for the movie is that it reunites Hammer glamour in the form of Caroline Munro, Martine Beswick and Veronica Carlson, these three lovely ladies look like they were having fun making House but sadly I had very little fun watching it. There are other very obvious nods to Hammer and classic horror, for example a law firm called Cushing, Lee and Price is referred to, rated 12 in the UK it is also very tame. As a Hammer fan myself I admire Kennedy for putting this together, it just isn't very good.

House of the Gorgon reunites Hammer veterans Caroline Munro, Martine Beswick, Veronica Carlson and Christopher Neame, in a film that seeks to recapture their glory days, only for amateur hour production values to constantly work against it.

Of the assembled Hammer thespians, Beswick fairs the best, but is given the least screen time. Munro has gotten awfully hammy in her old age, and Neame and Carlson look like they want to be elsewhere. The supporting cast range from merely passable to people who should never have been allowed in front of a camera. Tiresome visual Easter Eggs...cutaways to portraits of Lee, Cushing and Michael Gough...having Munro play the organ a la Vincent Price in The Abominable Dr Phibes whilst admiring a portrait of Vincent Price...just serves as a reminder of how much this fanwank is falling short of its influences.

There's also a number of awkward instances where modern day mores seem to have caused the filmmakers to chicken out of following in Hammer's footsteps. Most noticeably a character who is meant to be a hunchback but who doesn't actually appear to have a hunch on his back, he doesn't even have bad posture. While it is understandable in this day and age that the filmmakers were wary of having a non-disabled actor fake a disability onscreen, it's a decision that renders nonsensical the scenes where cruel villagers are berating this hunchback...who isn't a hunchback. The film also channels the lustful T&A aspects that Hammer went in for in the 1970s, by having one of the younger actresses (Jamie Trevino) take a nude dip in a bathtub, only to digitally censor her breasts...were they afraid that unpixilated bazongas would have instantly rendered the audience rock hard (rubbish 'gorgon' pun intended)

Writer/director/leading man Joshua Kennedy looks to be having a whale of a time, being onscreen alongside Hammer icons, playing the love interest of Munro's daughter Georgina Dugdale, and prancing around in what appears to be an attempt at Coffin Joe cosplay. Still you have to question why anyone would put senior actors they claim to admire in such a cheap looking, vanity project at the twilight of their careers, and indeed this turned out to be Carlson's last movie. I'm sure House of the Gorgon was was put together with good intentions, but the road to hell is paved with those, and I'm afraid this is the latest in a long line of horror movies which illustate that just because you are a mega fan of the genre doesn't mean you have anything of value to contribute to it.